Auditing (Scientology)
Auditing, also known as processing, is the core practice of Scientology. Scientologists believe that the role of auditing is to improve a person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses. The Scientologist is asked questions about their thoughts or past events, while holding two metal cylinders attached to a device called an E-meter. The term "auditing" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in 1950.
Auditing uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. It involves repeated questioning of the auditing subject, forming an extended series. It may take several questions to complete a 'process', several processes together are a 'rundown', several rundowns completed and the Scientologist is deemed to have advanced another level on the Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientologists believe that completing all the levels on the Bridge will return one to their native spiritual state, free of the encumbrances of the physical universe.
The electrical device, termed an E-meter, is an integral part of auditing procedure, and Hubbard made unsupported claims of health benefits from auditing. After several lawsuits involving mislabeling and practicing medicine without a license, Scientology was mandated to affix disclaimer labels to all E-meters and add disclaimers in all publications about the E-meter, declaring that the E-Meter "by itself does nothing", and that it is used specifically for spiritual purposes, not for mental or physical health.
Terminology
L. Ron Hubbard assigned special meanings to many ordinary English words when he wrote about Scientology, and Scientologese has become a language in itself. These are some very basic meanings of words Scientology uses when describing this subject.; Auditing : The procedures where two individuals work together to improve one of the person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses.
; Auditor : A trained Scientologist who is helping another individual through the use of auditing techniques. An auditor is only allowed to audit processes up to the level of training they have completed.
; Preclear : The person being questioned by an auditor. Also called a "PC".
; Case : The collection of all the preclear's upsets and emotional baggage which auditing is trying to relieve. A preclear's case level is how far a preclear has advanced on the [|Bridge to Total Freedom].
; Session : A single time when an auditor and preclear sit down to audit. The duration of a session can range from a few minutes to several hours.
; Process : A specific step in auditing. It may consist of repeatedly asking the preclear the same question until there is no more upset on that question. Many processes are run during a single session.
; Rundown : A series of processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case, such as communication, problems, or happiness. It may take many sessions to complete a rundown.
; End phenomenon : Abbreviated "EP", it is what an auditor is looking for that indicates a process, session or rundown has been completed. The EP of a process might be that the preclear realizes something, is happy about it, and the e-meter is showing certain needle movements. The EP of a session might be that several processes have been performed, and the preclear is very happy about it so it is a good point to stop for the day. A rundown would have a specific EP, such as all auditing questions for the rundown have been asked, and the preclear has experienced some sort of realization such as saying they feel they could now communicate freely with anyone on any subject.
; Intensive : An "intensive" is a block of 12 1/2 hours purchased in advance by the preclear for auditing services. Auditing is to occur intensively so that the 12 1/2 hours is performed within one week. At the end of each session, the hours and minutes used are written down on a form in the preclear's folder, deducted from the amount on account, and the balance is calculated.
Description
Auditing in Scientology is an activity where a trained Scientologist, known as an auditor, listens and asks the subject, who is referred to as a "preclear", or more often as a "PC", various questions. L. Ron Hubbard incorporated several hypnotic techniques into auditing practice. It is designed to induce a light hypnotic state and create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject.Auditing involves the use of "processes", which are sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor. Based on a prior interview looking for "charged" subjects—"charge" being that which prevents the PC from thinking on a subject or getting rid of a subject or approaching a subject—on the E-meter, found by asking questions to the PC in regard to them and their fancied case. When the specific objective of any one "process" is achieved, the process is ended, and another can then be started. Through auditing, the subjects are said to free themselves from barriers that inhibit their natural abilities. Charged areas can be viewed as areas of misinformation or lies. Once uncovered, they dissipate as their truth becomes apparent and the charge is eliminated once viewed for what it really is, an untruth.
The Auditor's Code outlines a series of 29 promises which an auditor pledges, such as:
- Not to evaluate for the preclear or tell him what he should think about his case in session
- Not to invalidate the preclear's case or gains in or out of session
- Never to use the secrets of a preclear divulged in session for punishment or personal gain
In 1952, auditing techniques "began to focus on the goal of exteriorizing the thetan" with the goal of providing complete spiritual awareness.
Preclear
The "preclear" or "PC" is the person who is being audited—the client, formerly called the "patient". At most levels of auditing, there are two people present: the auditor is the one asking questions, and the preclear is the one answering them. In some of the upper levels, a person audits oneself, being both auditor and preclear at the same time. The term was created back when the ultimate goal of auditing was to create a person who had been cleared, ergo the person being audited was pre-Clear. However, even after Hubbard created the upper levels, the term preclear was still used even if the person had surpassed the state of Clear. The term has continued to represent the role in auditing rather than the level the person has attained.During an auditing session, the auditor writes down the questions and the preclear's answers, and the papers are stored in the client's PC folder.
E-meter
Most auditing sessions employ a device called the Hubbard Electropsychometer or E-Meter. It consists of two tin cans connected to a galvanometer. It gives a crude measure of skin resistance.According to L. Ron Hubbard, the development of the E-Meter enabled auditing techniques and made it more precise. Later, the E-Meter was used to identify which processes should be run and equally crucially, to determine when to stop running a particular action. As a repair tool, the E-Meter reacts to a list of possible difficulties and relevant phrases, called out by the auditor, helping to guide the auditor to the difficulty. Hubbard clarified how the E-Meter should be used in conjunction with auditing:
Hubbard claimed that the device also has such sensitivity that it can measure whether or not fruits can experience pain, claiming in 1968 that tomatoes "scream when sliced".
Scientology teaches that individuals are immortal souls or spirits and are not limited to a single lifetime. Scientology doctrine states that the E-Meter aids the auditor in locating subliminal memories of past events in a thetan's current life and in previous ones. In such Scientology publications as Have You Lived Before This Life, Hubbard wrote about past life experiences dating back billions and even trillions of years.
When various foundations of Dianetics were formed in the 1950s, auditing sessions were a hybrid of confession, counseling and psychotherapy. According to Passas and Castillo, the E-Meter was used to "disclose truth to the individual who is being processed and thus free him spiritually".
Bridge to Total Freedom
, also known as the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart, is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man. In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!" The current Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization. A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the OT Levels to higher states of awareness and ability. Ultimately, the Scientologist hopes to become, as the sociologist David G. Bromley puts it, "an immortal, godlike expression of the life force".Procedure
Each Grade on the Bridge has a list of processes that auditors should run. Some auditing actions use commands, for example "Recall a time you knew you understood someone," and some auditing actions use questions such as, "What are you willing for me to talk to others about?" Below are sample commands from processes run in each Grade.- ARC Straightwire: "Recall a communication."
- Grade 0: "Recall a place from which you have communicated to another."
- Grade I: "Recall a problem you have had with another."
- Grade II: "Recall a secret."
- Grade III: "Can you recall a time of change?"
- Grade IV: "What about a victim you could be responsible for?"
John H. Wolfe differentiates auditing from interrogation, prayer, meditation, confession or hypnosis, instead likening it to nondirective therapy: "In its general philosophy and approach, auditing is closest to the nondirective therapy of Carl Rogers, who stressed the importance of having the client find the client's own answers, while the counselor refrains from interpretation, but listens with empathic understanding. Auditing differs from Roger's approach by having the auditor direct the preclear's attention using auditing questions, and by breaking up the session into discrete cycles of action."