Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini, Rebecca Paley Page B

something similar to him or others?” The word “critical” in Scientology is very different.
    Hubbard defined critical thought as “a symptom of an overt act having been committed” or “a withhold from an auditor.” What Hubbard meant is that critical thought is a bad thing; it indicates a criminal act. “Overt acts” and “withholds” are the equivalent of crimes against life and freedom in Scientology. The new definition thus makes it a crime for members to think critically, particularly about Scientology. Any “critical thought” by the Scientologist is immediately suspect. This redefinition makes criticizing anythingabout Scientology extremely difficult for members, as it is reflected back on them as something they did wrong. Hubbard’s message is clear: Critical thought is not the sort of thing any good Scientologist should be engaged in.
    As a result you start to edit what’s happened to you in your mind, and thus you can fail to address what is bothering you because you know it would end up all coming back to what you did to provoke that situation.
    There are also other problems that can get in the way of covering those items that might be bothering you in your life. Scientology auditing follows a precise series of steps. Each addresses one or more conditions that everyone supposedly needs to overcome. Thus, your auditor directs your problems as required for you to move up the Bridge.
    For example, the steps on the Bridge predetermine what will be addressed next. The auditor would then say: “In looking at earlier interviews and auditing, I have found that in your life you have a problem with communication.”
    Your auditor then proceeds to ask: “From where could you talk to your mother?”
    You give various answers, but the auditor continues to come back again and again, looking for more answers. You grow frustrated and exhausted as the auditor comes back to you with the same question dozens of times, trying to unblock you. Then you surrender. You have a realization that gets the required reaction on the E-Meter that signifies this step is complete with a “floating needle.”
    You finally say: “I can communicate with my mother from anywhere.”
    In the end, the “ability gained” is that you can communicate with anyone on any subject. Through auditing it has been proven, unequivocably, that you did indeed have this problem but just were not aware of it. And now that it’s been proven to you that you did have a problem with communication and that problem has now been eliminated.
    At the end of every session, once the needle has floated, the auditor says: “Thank you very much. Your needle is floating, we’re going to end session now.”
    You now leave, feeling that you’ve accomplished something.
Didn’t know that was there, but now I’m clear of it.
But the mind fuck lies in the fact that
they
assigned
you
the problem and not the other way around. And afterward, if you realize that you still have a problem with communicating with your mother, you are taught that that person is a wog, or “down tone.” (Being down tone means existing at the lower level of the Scientology Tone Scale, which is a listing of the various emotional states you can be in. The higher you are on the Tone Scale, the happier and healthier you are. So, if you’re down tone, it means you’re unhappy and unhealthy—and potentially dragging higher tone people down with you.)
    The process could produce a great sense of cathartic relief. Here was a problem I wasn’t even aware of, that I may have created for myself, and after much back-and-forth, I was able to overcome that problem.
    So while in session I would feel the euphoria of self-discovery and growth, back in the real world I was still angry, depressed, and judgmental. Looking at my diaries from that period (journaling was frowned upon by the church, but I did it anyway), I would note that I still wanted more for my life and my family’s life. My Scientology