Introduction: Ron has mentioned Buddhism over and over and also sees it as a forerunner of Scientology. Ron even published the Buddhist article "Matters Judical" as an HCO Policy Letter.
Read Max Hauri's introduction letter to this article below
All up and down his track on this planet Man has been searching for the answers to his own existence. These answers have taken on an almost bewildering variety of expressions.
Advance! believes it is important for you to know this back-history of former freedom efforts
After all, Man's spiritual history is the most basic history of this planet Man's search for himself has been the mainspring of all progress, despite what materialists claim. But as they feel man is animal then they can only speak for the animal kingdom, not for us. So be it.
Thus, Advance! feels you should be familiar with the whole track historic background of the Advanced Courses. When one sees the millions of answers that man has selected as his destiny, one appreciates even more the incredible achievement of L. Ron Hubbard in selecting the one straight path, out of an infinity of errors, which leads to the accomplishment of the ultimate spiritual goals
This path is more than a path it is a shining wide bridge to total freedom across the chasm of oblivion and despair.
Man has had no real bridge before.
The greatest earlier freedom effort was begun by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BC.), the Buddha. His work, known as the religion of Buddhism, was man's first broadly successful civilizing mission. It was decisive not only to Asia, but also to the West. For example, the Christian message of love and the Renaissance scientific methodology can be historically traced to the work of Siddhartha Buddha.
As powerful as the Buddhist tradition was, it failed to guarantee its own integrity and thus sowed the internal seeds of its own decay.
Within 200 years after the death of Buddha a firefight had already arisen amongst his spiritual heirs as to what he really meant.
Literally hundreds of sects and schools of Buddhism subsequently arose, each espousing in its own eyes essential Buddhism.
Within this kaleidoscope of religious interpretation, the original lessons of Buddha became obscured and lost to a considerable degree.
What did the Buddha say?
Did he say as some claim that Man is not a spirit but merely a bundle of associated phenomena? This would make him at best an agnostic and belittle Buddhism's historic identity as a religion. Did he say that?
Is it possible to weave a thread through the last 2,500 years of divergencies to the truth of the matter?
At the heart of the problem is the fact that Buddha himself did not write anything down. All great Indian classics were originally aural works handed down through successive generations. So it was with Buddhism. The Buddha laid great emphasis on his disciples duplicating his work through recitation and mnemonic [helping or meant to help, the memory; of memory] skills.
Immediately after his passing away, a great First Council of his chief disciples met and agreed upon the recitation of the rules of the order and the basic sermons of the Buddha. Within the next several hundred years three additional councils were necessary to sort out and agree upon the Buddha's message. Finally, in the 1st century B.C. one sect of the 18 major sects wrote down their rendition and bequeathed it to future generations in the form of the famous Pali Canons. [Canon – a collection of written works. Pali – the language Buddha spoke.]
That is the record we have – a reflection of a reflection of a reflection.
So what did the Buddha really say?
Let us look at the Buddha's life which stands as the supreme example of his own word, for unlike some philosophers the Buddha did as he said do.
The Buddha was born in Lumbini in the Northeast corner of India in what is now Nepal. Under the majestic rise of the Himalayan peaks he grew up as a rich young prince, Siddhartha Gautama.
At the age of 29 he suddenly realized his destiny and left behind his material opulence to seek greater spiritual riches. He sat at the laps of the greatest Hindu teachers. He outdid ascetics in secluded forests. Finally at the end of six years of intense search he resolved to sit down beneath a fig tree and not stir until he had achieved enlightenment. On that fateful night Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha and sparked off a civilizing movement that profoundly influenced world history.
Afterwards, others came and asked Siddhartha Gautama, now Buddha, "Are you a man, god or heavenly being?". He answered he was none of these. "I am awakened" was the reply. He was Buddha. For the root budh denotes both to wake up and to know. Buddha then means the "Enlightened One" or the "Awakened One."
Thus we see, first of all, that Buddha is not really a name but rather a higher state of existence. Now if the Buddha had merely said he had uniquely achieved this state he might have been worshipped as a god but he wouldn't have founded Buddhism.
Instead Buddha said anyone could follow him to reach this same state, now, in one lifetime. Another name for this state was Bodhi (enlightenment) from the same root as Buddha.
So we are getting closer to the heart of the Buddha's message.
But before we look closer at what Bodhi was let us look at the basic principles of Buddha's philosophy which made it so revolutionary.
First of all he said that an idea was only as valuable as it worked to help Man resolve unhappiness. "I teach but one thing: suffering and the termination of suffering."
Secondly, he said his philosophy was only as true as one could experience it and find it true. "Do not go by what is handed down nor on the authority of your traditional teachings. When you know of yourselves: 'These teachings when followed out and put in practice lead to loss and suffering' – then reject them."
Thirdly, Buddha rejected the tradition wherein wisdom was the monopoly of a priest class in an ivory tower. "I have preached the truth without making any distinction between exoteric [not limited to a select few or inner circle; broadly understandable] and esoteric [secret, intended for or understood by only a chosen few or inner circle] doctrine; for in respect of the truths, Ananda, [Chief Aide of Buddha] the Tathagata [another name for Buddha meaning the "Thus-Come."] has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back." With this statement Buddha opened the book of knowledge to all, regardless of creed, color, caste or class and thus founded the first international religion.
So let's look at this again. The Buddha said life inevitably involved suffering and loss as long as a being was tied to the treadmill of death and rebirth.
But what bound a being to this mortal coil? Only his own self-created attachment to his body and the illusory craving for Mest!
So what was really real? The ultimate beingness of the individual. So what was Buddha's basic message? What did he point to? What was Bodhi really?
Buddha pointed to the ultimate freedom of the spirit beyond the restrictions of corporal existence!
Only a Buddha, he said, could be ("know he is") a real individual because only a Buddha is free of an "ego-personality" composed of "elements that pass away," the components of the physical manifestations of Man which, being part of the physical universe, do not partake of the true nature of reality, the being himself.
So what is the basic experience Buddha spoke of?
On that night under the fig tree, the Buddha-to-be exteriorized from his body and realized who and what he was: a spirit freed of the flesh and of dependence upon matter. This was the central experience which he sought to help others reach.
The message of this experience, although seldom obtainable and never stable, permeated thousands of miles in all directions from Northeast India, revitalizing Man's greatest hopes for spiritual freedom.
But Man cannot live on hope and inspiration alone. Therein lies the failure of Buddhism. Buddha never developed a technology adequate to the building of a Bridge across the chasm to the "other side." And due to the twists and distortions later introduced into the subject by others (such as Buddha said Man is not a spirit), the subject itself became, paradoxically, a trap for the unenlightened. But Buddha said his work was not complete. He predicted that a successor would arise some 2,500 years later in the West to complete his work.
This prediction has now been fulfilled. The goals of total spiritual freedom, envisioned by Buddha, are now totally obtainable through Dianetics and Scientology. Through the work of L. Ron Hubbard, the technology, symbolized by The Bridge, now exists to not only achieve the traditional goals of Man but to exceed them beyond Man's wildest dreams.
After 2,500 years a new golden era has, at last, begun for Man.
L. Ron Hubbard on Buddhism
"Actually, Siddhartha Gautama was exteriorizing people and banging them out of their heads left and right. Anybody who exteriorizes is a Buddha. Our technology on this is better, which is quite startling in itself. [Exteriorization: The state in which the thetan, the individual himself, is outside his body. When this is achieved, the person attains a certainty that he is himself and not the body].
The trouble he had with his work was how to stably exteriorize, or continue somebody in an exterior condition. He did not know how to do this.
The work of Siddhartha Gautama, although looked upon as ethereal, produced a sufficiency of wisdom on this planet to bring civilization to three quarters of Asia. Probably the shreds of Buddhism, coming into the Middle East with the silk and spice merchants who after the contact of Alexander in about 333 B.C. found out there was a Europe, sparked a religious revival and a considerable amount of messianic activity in the Middle East. The spirituality of man is the basis of religion and is the one thing that all religions have in common. They have different creators, different gods, different altars of worship, but in one thing they hold a common truth and that is that man is a spiritual being. Only in Buddhism was this ever proven.
The aim and goal of Buddhism was just to knock off the thing about having to pick up another body and another identity all the time and mess it up.
It didn't have the aim and goal that a fellow ought to be able to operate. To that degree we have enormously exceeded any limits ever put in this direction before."
L. Ron Hubbard
Dear friends
In our society led by Homo sapiens, I see a lot of declarations of bankruptcy. It is so beyond my values that sometimes I wonder if I should even mention at all. Here is another one.
In a nutshell, it's about equipping a robot with artificial intelligence in such a way that you can talk to it like a friend. Surely this technology will be linked with that of "love dolls" and ready is the perfect wife. And children will be ordered in the laboratory...
Here is a German and English link on the subject:
https://pressefreiheit.rtde.website/international/149173-erica-lernt-lachen-forscher-bringen/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/sep/15/scientists-teach-robot-laugh-right-time-research
Relationships and Life
Nobody says that relationships, whether in partnership or in other areas of life, are always easy. But if we don't work on it and develop, then what? In the Corona period, the importance of relationships and closeness, face-to-face conversations and a hug was confirmed to me a thousand times and can hardly be overstated.
Scientology is the technology of how we can connect and keep connecting. It is a huge field and there is much to learn and it is worthwhile.
Buddhism
Ron has mentioned Buddhism over and over and also sees it as a forerunner of Scientology. Ron even published the Buddhist article "Matters Judical" as an HCO Policy Letter.
In the magazine Advance! various articles about Buddhism, and also in connection with Scientology, were published in 1974. In the next newsletter I will publish them again.
Here is the first article.
Much love,
Max
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