Another in the series of “Life Is Good.” I have known Terry since I worked with him in OSA in the 80’s and 90’s. Terry is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to call friend. He is a talented stained glass artist, photographer and also runs guided kayak tours out of Venice, Florida. It makes me very happy to see him doing so well. Mike
My history with Dianetics goes back to 1951 in Wichita. I started reading Scn. books in late 1968 in the Ozarks, and moved to Florida to join staff in early 1969. I did the usual…volunteered, did basic courses, and when old enough, joined HCO staff in Miami in 1970. Later, ran a City Office for Miami Org, and (finally) arrived in the Sea Org at Flag in 1981.
I left a much different Sea Org in 2001, after working at New World Corps Int., OSA Int. and Flag Liaison Office, and after completing about 30-40 missions/projects around the world. Fortunately, I have worked with a fair number of Scientology Orgs, Missions, Dianetic groups during that time, met thousands of Scientologists, and made a lot of friends. I still think of most of that time as very positive, with a few exceptions….
I’ve just returned from the Courseroom in Georgia and very highly recommend it (please note the VGI’s). I’ve personally seen and experienced better results there than anywhere else in my experience in Scientology, and would be very suspicious of anyone being nattery or spreading Black PR about the Courseroom. Granted, I wasn’t looking for lavishly decorated ten-story buildings, empty of public. What I FOUND was a growing community of Independent Scientologists who are delivering LRH tech standardly. Students and PC’s are getting rave results by just doing LRH tech.
My Bridge progress slowed in ’71, but there were enough post cycles going on for three decades that I didn’t bother with it. I headed up to the Courseroom to compete an incomplete Grade and get sorted out. Gayle Smith did an EXCELLENT job, and John and Candace Williams, Rocky and Cathy Green, and the students made my trip up there one of the best times of my life. I have never experienced such smooth auditing, speed of service, and such an effective, and high ARC environment. I thought the earlier orgs (Miami, FSO, OSA Int) had the best delivery I’d ever seen…they have been superceded by a handful of very effective people. The Courseroom is growing, and getting great products. That’s the long and short of it. Feel free to contact me if you have questions.
In a few days, life has straightened out: Repair Program done, Incomplete Grade completed, have attested to CCRD and Sunshine RD, and am starting SOLO 1. I’m having a ball! I recall how Scientology used to be fun, then it moved down to being enforced, then it was no longer Scientology and was even more enforced..:) . Well, these standard auditing actions were FUN.
As far as the Courseroom, a number of well trained Scientologists around the world have contributed to producing Independent Checksheets, using only standard LRH tech. These are without the arbitraries the C of S has become known for and certainly omit the “lets try this” counseling being done by some. Every checksheet item/RD has the LRH reference and the staff know these. What I observed was a huge library of references, books, etc., and sufficient space for people to study or get audited. Size of the courserooms and auditing rooms will increase as more students/PCs arrive. The grounds provide plenty of space, and the folks there seem to have excellent PR area control with the nearby towns, all the neighbors, businesses, etc. It is a safe, uptone and friendly space, and I found it extremely comfortable to be there. The delivery was superb, without the pressure of crush regging or wildly inflated prices for services. There was no suppress on communication (just the opposite), no heavy ethics, inval/eval, etc. If you are looking for luxury accomodations or valets, or huge prices…well, those aren’t there either. Pluspoints, however, are found in abundance.
As far as the auditing went, it was so smooth I was amazed. There didn’t seem to be any complexity…Gayle ran the processes, I did my part and the wins just didn’t stop. Any question got cleared up immediately, the auditor’s TR’s were natural, -the sessions ran great and the cognitions just got bigger and bigger. I got much more gain than I expected in the time I was there…let me rephrase that….I got MANY times the gain I hoped for.
Terry
Scott Campbell says
Great wins Terry! Great products John Aaron, Gail and team!
I love hearing stories like this and hearing of wins with standard scientology. This is how scientology is supposed to be delivered – on a help flow with exchange in abundance! Very, Very Well Done to all who have contributed to making this wonderful service available.
Roger says
Loved your wins,it was about a year ago we discussed it, and now you did it and on your way to ot.you look great.
Steve Poore says
Terry, It was really great hearing your wins of Standard Tech being applied and delivered out here in the free world – outside the crumbling wall of what we used to call our church!
as others have stated, The Co$ is dead and therefore can only produce death.
And so we work to carry on LRH’s legacy and to keep the light of promise and hope of what Scientology means to us burning bright in the Indie Field!
THANK YOU MIKE FOR POSTING THESE “LIFE IS GOOD” STORIES!
My life is good, they make it even better!
Dan Locke says
“We live in a cynical and violent age, yet an org must be friendly above all else. You are creating an island of friendliness, decency, and succor in the sea of a violent world.”
John was in CMO PAC at the same time as when I worked in various other orgs there, mainly the ASHOs. Many of the CMO crew there would let their status go to their heads, I think. I remember hearing that there were “Messenger TRs” that they were trained on, but I never got a chance to study these, so I don’t know what sort of an indoctrination they may have brought about. If these TRs were what was responsible for making most of these kids act like arrogant demanding know-bests, I am happy to say that, with John Aaron Williams, those TRs were very “out”.
John’s TRs were of the auditory variety: friendly and helpful. His attitude as he moved around the base was fun and flippant: always bright and granting beingness, even to those not in his echelon of management. What a relief!
And he maintained that attitude, I am sure, under some quite stressful environments.
So I am confident that The Courseroom will be an ongoing success. That’s just what people at 4.0 and above on the tone scale do: make successes out of themselves, their environments, and the people around them.
Nice to hear from Terry Brawley too. Whenever we talked, it was ALWAYs friendly and full of beingness granted. Kayaking and stained glass??? That’s good shifting gears since being out. Great to hear this good news.
And then to read in your comments that Randy and Kaye Smith and Tim Swanson are unfolding their wings in LA!
These are definitely “islands of friendliness”!
One of my most favorite posts so far, Mike Rinder, and I am sure there are many more stories like these you will be bringing us. For me, posts celebrating the success of the Independent world of Scientology are far more encouraging than the posts regarding the slow asphyxiation of the corporate church: the latter bring me close to tears; the former inspires.
Chuck Beatty says
Great info Dan!
You have a good memory!
The Messenger TRs can be mis-coached, depending on what the coach expects! Some messengers were upper toned, and didn’t act the total jerks that other messengers did!
You can read of some of the funny stories Janis Grady tells, if you are ex Sea Org, and go to the XSO chat site, and read Janis’ funny stories.
One messenger story sticks out, where LRH was super pissed, ordered the cook (Arden Hansen, I think) to the RPF for “poisening” or making him sick, and Janis got that order, and Janis went to the late Cathy Cariotaki, who was CO Household Unit and Arden’s boss, and Janis and Cathy figured out how NOT to RPF Arden! Janis and Cathy knew Arden was NOT trying to poison LRH, and they acted so as to keep Arden on post!
Typical of good people, who have done their posts all up and down the whole Sea Org crazy ladder all through Sea Org history.
I myself, I almost never wrote KRs, instead I kept a little scoreboard in my head of those staff who DID write KRs, and tried to meliorate those points in their KRs that I saw. “Chit wars” or KR wars are a juvenile losing game for everyone, and it struck me as totalitarian (I ws a cold war military brat, and knew of the East Germans being in that sickening mode of turncoats on themselves, as pressured on them by their extremist totalitarian communist society, and it is just wrong, better to NOT write KRs, and just later try to directly advise the erring staff member of their mistakes privately in an upbeat way).
There’s just no generalizations that will always ring true.
But I’m no longterm supporter of the Scientology movement, I think it’s overladen with too many pitfalls and it frankly does not attrack and keep enough smart people to run the place, and it’s only strengths are those few positive things Hubbard left in the works that aren’t totally countermanded by the other things Hubbard wrote, that frankly ought NOT be church policy (disconnection needs to go, OSA needs to go and all OSA’s dirty work needs to end).
I guess these new islands of friendly trained Scientologists, inspired and feeling safe enough to set up pretty good group setups, are the way of the future. Just carry on and do it, and with the internet, people leaving Scientology’s bilking machine can find these new alternative Scientology setups.
Thank goodness for the internet!
I enjoy all your posts Dan!
And to Terry, I send this link to new religion scholars to further contact you Terry, and hopefully this saner trend of Scientology practice gets more notice.
(I’m still an utra critic and skeptic, but those thoughts I hold for other forums.)
Hallie Jane says
Fantastic job Terry! I am so thrilled to get these reports about the courseroom because I have people that want to do OT levels and I wanted to point them in a very standard direction, where they would be well respected and cared for. I’m so happy you are able to finish your bridge and get the wins and gains that you deserve. My best wishes to you!
Terry Brawley says
Dear Hallie Jane, Please have your people get in touch with John right away. They will be well treated and I have no doubt they will receive a standard Bridge. It’s exciting to see people able to move on up, safely and per LRH.
Paul J says
Terry, there’s something about your write-up here that never stops amazing me. I’ve always taken pride in my ability to see the honesty in people when I’ve spoken to them or I’ve heard them speak. Ever since reading testimonies from people like you over the last few years on theses Scientology blogs I’ve had the same clarity in seeing the honesty in people. I gave no doubt that the Courseroom is for real and that you’ve had very real gains. Thanks for taking the time to do this write-up.
calvin b. duffield says
Nice comment Paul. Dishonesty is surely the anathema to enlightenment? When we speak from the heart, we get attacked, because we threaten the intended persistence of the “protective” lies.
Honest folk have nothing to conceal, and can stand tall, independently, and be pillars of strength to others.
Aquamarine says
Thank you for sharing this, Terry. Congratulations on all of your wins. This does me heart good.
breppen says
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience, this is an Ideal Scene producing great results in a safe, caring, loving environment. Just awesome…..
Christopher Garza says
I had the pleasure of working with the LRH PPRO,, I worked with the Runyons, Kaye Conley, LRH PPRO Int Office, too. I know that you and I have crossed paths a few times,,, I resent the misleadership of the church. I was routed out of the SO. I was not happy to say the least.
Terry Brawley says
Hi Christopher, Good to hear from you! I got that you resent the misleadership of the church. I do too.
You worked with some pretty fine people, and leaving the SO can be quite a change. What are you up to now?
Cat Daddy says
Fuck the CO$, when a dutch judge delivered his verdict , Freedom of Speeach went before Copyright, so America how is your freedom of Speech ?
Terry Brawley says
At first this communication seemed to come out of left field, but you certainly deserve an answer. On behalf of all America, Freedom of Speech is pretty good 🙂
Mike Wreggitt says
Quick change of subject, here. I need to correct an outness that I believe I started with my story of a couple days ago…
Candice William’s name is spelt with an ‘i’, not an ‘a’. So it’s ‘Candice’ and not ‘Candace’.
Sorry Snoop Dog.
calvin b. duffield says
Thanks, Mike. “i” it will be from here on out! Apologies to Candice too!
Alice says
Is there a Courseroom in Los Angeles?
I think we’re behind here. With OSA so close and all of us working for, married to, and totally involved with each other, we’ve been the last place to become enlightened as to the actions of CofS to destroy Scientology. We were so intimated by the disconnection policy that the runt re-instated before LRH died, without his knowledge. Leah has changed the climate here – her departure was the story only the most hypnotized and afraid could ignore. THANK YOU LEAH.
Randy Smith says
We DO have a training service in LA. I am currently training two people on OT VI, and one on the Solo Auditor’s Course. I am a 42 yr Scientologist, specializing in training with understanding, and wins for the student. I have trained many auditors over the years.
See our blog at Tim and Randy’s Training Service: http://latrainer.wordpress.com for recent success stories and more info.
calvin b. duffield says
Brilliant write up Terry! Here we see REAL Scientology taking firm root again among the dying “weeds”
that tried to smother all real genuine growth. Simple pesticide really. just a few bucketfuls of unadulterated
LRH sprinkled liberally over the offending alien growth, and voila! There you have it. Congrats must go to John, Candace and Gayle for being creators of another organic growth point of REAL service delivery!
ML, Calvin.
KFrancis says
Nice Calvin! Love the picture you drew in my mind.
Lyrics from the song “Georgia” sung by Boz Scaggs.
“Georgia….I swear I never seen such a smile
Gorgeous…..enough to make an angel’s heart run wild
Your lazy eyes and small-town lies
Have got me in your spell…..”
A tip of the hat and a bow at the waist to all the staff and public at the Courseroom down in Georgia!
calvin b. duffield says
My pleasure, K. BTW, how’s the auditing going?
KFrancis says
I won’t go into great detail but let me just say …Great…Great…Great!!!
We about half way in with tremendous wins and I think we are just setting up for the heavy fireworks ahead! The NOT’s tech is amazing and I will add that it is not a “metaphor” for anything. It is exactly as it appears to be.
met•a•phor
Noun
1.A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
2.A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, esp. something abstract.
Terry Brawley says
Thanks everyone!
TheWidowDenk says
I had the extremely good fortune to meet you, Terry, at Mike and Christie’s wedding. What a delight that was and I’m very pleased you have progressed at The Courseroom in Georgia!
I also met John Aaron Williams at the wedding. A couple years ago I had the opportunity to contribute to setting up The Courseroom. I jumped at the chance and thank my lucky stars I did so. I love everything about it!
Mike Wreggitt says
Like!
Rod Keller says
Congratulations on getting out of the church. As a never-was-Scientologist it makes me feel good that you can practice your beliefs. But I have a question. How do today’s Independent Scientologists compare with the previous generation – like Alan Walter, David Mayo, and Enid Vien? I know Alan and Enid each wrote books similar to Scientology books, Knowledgism and Dynamism respectively. Does this place them apart from today’s independents who seem to keep to LRH-only procedures? Also, having been in OSA Int, did you participate in the actions Scientology took against these individuals? How do you feel about that in retrospect, having now consulted independent Scientologists?
Terry Brawley says
Hi Rod, Great questions, and I’m more than willing to answer them as best as I can. My view of Mayo, Walters, etc. may vary a lot from other Independants though. People leaving the C of S seem to head into any number of directions…some into Freezone, Buddhism, Christianity, Atheism, psychology, some want to attack the C of S, some are working to correct injustices, and some just want to eat yoghurt for a while and decompress. I haven’t ever seen a clear definition of what an Independent Scientologist is, but personally find that LRH tech works extremely well and am pursuing that. As far as my view re Mayo, etc. so we don’t further sidetrack this blog, write me at brawleytj@gmail.com and I’ll give you my views.
Rita Wagner says
Congratulations Terry!! Thanks a lot for sharing your wins 🙂
Mak says
Oooohhhh, fun to hear about the courses in Georgia and all your wins. I’d like to go there. We have a lot of auditing gong on here, but no academy. We miss the 70s – early 80 academies before the takeover. Glad to hear Georgia is doing well.
Doug Parent says
Great to hear of success using LRH in the Independent Field. Scientology is alive and well outside of the Radical Corp Scn cult!
Dan Koon says
John Aaron Williams deserves massive kudos for conceiving of the Courseroom, putting it there and getting such excellent products. Congratulations on your wins, Terry!
John Aaron says
Thank you much Dan.
Terry it was a pleasure having you here. I look forward for your return to do Solo I and your OT Levels.
Gayle aka TroubleShooter says
I second that Dan. My observation of John’s unrelenting intention to put the Bridge here for everyone from a brand new person to an OT has been what made me decide to contribute to his motion. Without John’s help and years of work to get the tech digitized and accumulated in such volume is what made it possible for me to deliver a CCRD to Terry. An acknowledgement such as this for someone and especially someone like Terry who gave decades of his life to service without getting what LRH intended for each and every staff member of Scn is a powerful ending and beginning. As a Qual terminal for 99.9% of my staff career in the cofs being able to audit former staff and give them these wins is just exactly what LRH wanted Qual to do. I was honored to be the one who got to say This is the Session to you Terry. My VGIs are likely right up there with yours.
Richard Lloyd-Roberts says
Gayle,
Are you able to do KTL there. I was 75% through it and would love to get it finished.
Richard Lloyd-Roberts says
I did the auditing BTW.
Richard Lloyd-Roberts says
I am glad you did this write up. I live in NC not so far from the courseroom and wanted to get the rest of my bridge done. This really helps.
Terry Brawley says
Hi John! Thank you very much, and the same to all the others up there. I’ll be back to comp SOLO and to do the OT levels and am looking forward to it.
Terry Brawley says
Thanks Dan! I agree with you fully re John’s humongous contribution in putting together another safe space where LRH tech is delivered. He’s getting great results.
Mike Wreggitt says
Yep, I third that, Dan. John has done a tremendous job. Terry, you have to come back. We didn’t get much chance to hang out and talk. It was fascinating hearing your stories at dinner about booming Mountain View back in the day. And I understand there’s a kayak trip in the offing…Count me in!
Very cool wins! You and I both will get an idea of what the OT levels are like.
Jane Doe says
Congrats on your wins Terry and VVVWD to John Aaron Williams for putting the courseroom there and making it in tech.
Robin says
Actually this course room is more of an actual ideal org than any of the ideal orgs they’ve built so far.
Not only that it aligns with the Ol’man’s policy on Quarters.
Funny what happens when apply Standard Tech and Policy.
You get actual wins and results instead of endless PR and sales pitches.
So carry on Terry.
There are more wins to be had 🙂
Roy Macgregor says
Congratulations Terry! Yes, straight Scientology from a straight shooter is always a great experience. Very exciting to hear that The Courseroom is florishing and prospering! Very Well Done to Gayle and John and all of you who are building a viable alternative to the Radical Church of Scientology (RCS) Implant Stations.
Silvia says
Great Terry and thank you for the observations on how the Independents have proper check sheets, simple standard auditing and the wins are, as communicated by you, just valid and very validating for the person receiving the actions. Lets carry on!!!
Detlef Ruchatz says
Very nice to see yet another familiar face here on this blog. :-))