New Religious Movements

"But we’re friends with Penn Jillette, and Showtime wouldn’t let him do an episode of Bullshit! on Scientology..And hearing other people say, "You can’t do that,"—you can only say "You can’t do that" so many times to Matt and me before we’re gonna do it..So we realized we had to do it, and now that we’ve done it, now it’s like we’ve sort of opened the floodgates. People will be less scared."

"Why Scientology is a religion? Religion is about the spirit, and Scientology deals with the spirit. We are in the tradition of the much older religions -- Buddhism, Hinduism -- helping the person as a spiritual being improve himself. That is what religion is about. That is why this is a religion. It doesn't fall into any other field."

"The Aetherius Society is technically a “UFO religion,” in that it depends upon a belief in extraterrestrial entities operating UFOs. There are many such religions, the largest of which is Scientology."

"Scientology means 'scio', knowing in the fullest sense of the word and 'logos', study. In itself the word means 'knowing how to know'.Scientology is a 'route', a way, rather than a dissertation or assertive body of knowledge. Through its drills and studies one may find the truth for himself. The technology is therefore not expounded as something to believe, but something to 'do'."

"I felt great and I got rid of some stuff that I didn't realize that I was dragging around. And I said, "Whoa, I think I've become a Scientologist.""

"I got a lot of benefit from auditing. It was the fastest and deepest way to handle situations that I had yet encountered. I immediately wanted to learn to do it. … With Scientology, I was able to characterize the Mind more accurately, and to cease justifying it. This greatly clarified what I was doing. … After my experience with Scientology, I saw what it means to see the Mind as a machine. I can now operate my Mind accordingly, with exactitude. I can do the familiar mind over matter experiments - the control of pain and bleeding, telepathy, those things."

"The Celebrity Centre is just like, you know, the stable datum of like, growth and sanity, and growing as an artist, and, um, it's just like I'm always safe when I come here."

"The trade secrets that they're trying to protect, all that science fiction space opera stuff at the end of the road, it's already on the hard load--hard drives of millions of people. In other words, the cat's out of the bag. So anybody that cares to investigate this organization are just a few keystrokes away from finding the truth-- and it's out there."

"People mistake L. Ron Hubbard and his Scientology. They see the apparency, and not the actuality. By design. Scientology does not work as stated; but as intended. As intended by its creator L Ron Hubbard. To keep the Doorway open. To remain in the realm of the Great Beast. To feed the hunger of the Will. His Will. When he emptied the purse of man and the heart of women; it seeks onward and outward. Appetite. Forever appetite. Scientology is the snare. The passion flower. the Cloak of Lights. The glow of power. A power always wanting. Always needing. The Will never satisfied."

"The secret feeling that you’re basically superior to your fellow man is probably more human than anything, except the related doubt that you’re superior to anyone. Racism is based on the need to believe in superiority, and one of the basic factors underlying many neuroses is the doubt of even equality. L. Ron Hubbard has capitalized on this situation in a book—printed by Hermitage House—Dianetics, available to all at $4.00 per copy. It isn’t at all surprising that the book has been a best seller, since it gives the credulous reason to believe that he can really be the superman he always felt he was. It also purports to be a science, which is the current catch-word to replace the older black-magic in the popular mind. The fact that it lacks a fundamental scientific basis has little to do with the average, untrained reader’s idea that he is being scientific in trying out the “experiments”—totally without controls or any basis of objective evaluation—in the book."

"You can't drive past an accident, because as a Scientologist you are the only one who can help."

"And this really directly affects my relationship with people, with individuals around me, with my loved ones, and also with audiences."

"There is more evil in one second of the history of the Roman Catholic Church than there is in the entire lifetime of Scientology."

"Scientology promotes not watching the news. It keeps you inside a Truman Show where you're totally unaware of things. It's like your own thinking gets shut down and you get used to not considering anything that might be critical of Scientology."

"But of course their doctrine states that the purpose of a suit is to harass, not to win, so from that perspective they hurt us all. They've had a real chilling effect on journalism, both before and after my piece."

"The prospect of a new global order is also central to many variants of the Human Potential and New Age movements and Scientology. All these very different kinds of NRM nevertheless share a conviction that human beings have, perhaps for the first time, come into possession of the knowledge required to free them from traditional structures of thought and action."

"They [the Guardian's Office] were L. Ron Hubbard’s intelligence agents. That was their purpose; and indeed an intelligence specialist in the U.S. has said that they were as effective as the CIA."

"The one thing that was really cool about L. Ron Hubbard was that he really got the concept that if people united, and not in some airy-fairy way, but if they united and they put their, you know, muscle and brawn together and they worked really hard, you could create a better civilization."

"The syllable gu means shadows / The syllable ru, he who disperses them, / Because of the power to disperse darkness / the guru is thus named."

"We must consider the possibility that the conviction expressed by gurus is less absolute than it appears in that their apparent confidence needs boosting by the response of followers. As we shall see, some gurus avoid the stigma of being labelled insane or ever of being confined in a mental hospital because they have acquired a group of disciples who accept them as prophets rather than perceiving them as deluded."

"In other words, gurus generalize from their own experience. Some gurus are inclined to believe that all humanity should accept their vision: others allege that, when the last trump sounds, their own followers will be saved, whilst the majority of mankind will remain unredeemed. This apparently arrogant assumption is closely connected with certain features of personality displayed by a variety of gurus."

"Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe."

"I am the rich man's guru."

"If you are not at all concerned with the world but only with your personal salvation, following certain beliefs and superstitions, following gurus, then I am afraid it will be impossible for you and the speaker to communicate with each other. …We are not concerned at all with private personal salvation but we are concerned, earnestly, seriously, with what the human mind has become, what humanity is facing. We are concerned as human beings, human beings who are not labelled with any nationality. We are concerned at looking at this world and what a human being living in this world has to do, what is his role?"

"Most of the devotees with whom we spoke reported a significant drop in the number of people receiving knowledge starting from late 1973. This created a condition of financial strain which became critical when Millennium '73, an all-out extravaganza held in the Houston Astrodome where Guru Maharaj Ji was crowned 'Lord of the Universe,' proved to be an economic flop. … DLM underwent significant organizational and ideological transformations. It no longer projected itself as a movement that would include all of humanity in its membership."

"Obviously the obedience to the spiritual master includes the risk of abuse. However, charges of abuse should be evaluated within the context of the religious tradition. Gurus who kill or [sexually abuse] their followers may not hide under pretexts of religious freedom. On the other hand, “being a guru” or establishing with the disciples a special relationship of trust and obedience is not illegal. It should not be evaluated through individualist and rationalist standards by media, or even by secular courts of law who do not understand the [ancient] religious principle of surrendering a great part of the disciple’s liberty to a spiritual master."

"Although he reputedly hated the label of ‘guru’, Peter Drucker was, by any standards, the greatest management guru the world has yet seen. In 1996, the McKinsey Quarterly journal described him as ‘the one guru to whom other gurus kowtow’ and Robert Heller described him as ‘the greatest man in the history of management’, praise indeed for a man who described himself as ‘just an old journalist’."

"Tim Guest’s extraordinary account of his childhood in the communes of Bhagwan [Rajneesh], the notorious Indian guru, is a survivor’s tale, poignant, funny and wise."

"I have been saying for many years that we are using the word 'guru' only because 'charlatan' is too long to fit into a headline."

"Act in such a way that your heart may be free from hatred. Let not your heart be offended with anyone. If someone commits an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him. Do not complain of others. Refrain from reprimanding them, and if you wish to give admonition or advice, let it be offered in such a way that it will not burden the bearer. Turn all your thoughts toward bringing joy to hearts. Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart."

"Dedicate the precious days of your lives to the betterment of the world."

"Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch."

"O ye people of the world! The religion of God is for the sake of love and union; make it not the cause of enmity and conflict."

"The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds."

"Man's merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches."

"Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindred's of the earth."

"O people of Baha! The source of crafts, sciences and arts is the power of reflection."

"Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity."

"Consort with all religions with amity and concord, that they may inhale from you the sweet fragrance of God. Beware lest amidst men the flame of foolish ignorance overpower you. All things proceed from God and unto Him they return. He is the source of all things and in Him all things are ended."

"He hath everlastingly existed and will everlastingly continue to exist. He hath been and will ever remain inscrutable unto all men, inasmuch as all else besides Him have been and shall ever be created through the potency of His command. He is exalted above every mention or praise and is sanctified beyond every word of commendation or every comparison. No created thing comprehendeth Him, while He in truth comprehendeth all things."

"How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science, yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the knowledge of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure."

"There is no paradise more wondrous for any soul than to be exposed to God's Manifestation in His Day, to hear His verses and believe in them, to attain His presence, which is naught but the presence of God, to sail upon the sea of the heavenly kingdom of His good-pleasure, and to partake of the choice fruits of the paradise of His divine Oneness."

"It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God's tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God's method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future!"

"The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and the purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God."

"Religious teachings are like a course of treatment having for its purpose the cure and healing of mankind. If the only outcome of a course of treatment should be mere diagnosis and fruitless discussion of symptoms, it would be better to abandon and abolish it."

"Religion is not intended to arouse enmity and hatred nor to become the source of tyranny and injustice. Should it prove to be the cause of hostility, discord and the alienation of mankind, assuredly the absence of religion would be preferable."

"The art of music is divine and effective. It is the food of the soul and spirit. Through the power and charm of music the spirit of man is uplifted."

"The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord and agreement and should love one another."

"Their minds are so circumscribed by exterior manners and traditional interests that they are blind to any other realm of existence."

"Let your ambition be the achievement on earth of a heavenly civilization!"