"As an insider, did you visit one of these temples, get sealed for all eternity to your parents, did your parents wear the magic 'garments'??"

I was never that inside. They create a mystique about those who are. It operates like many orders do that lead you to deeper levels of 'specialness."

What I remember most is looking at the gold statues on top of the mormon temple. It created an optical illusion as I stared at it. it would like like gold puffs coming off the top after staring for a while.

I had been hounded by missionaries no matter where I moved, they would find me and want to offer help or just talk. When I shot them questions they could not answer and that made them feel uncomfortable. Soon after this the stalking stopped.

The church is set up as a kind of museum . Its just all very vivid and surreal and visually alluring like the catholic cult grounds are.

Something else that I've noticed while reading about scientology, is that they make the same claims as other belief systems, in that they have the only truth, and the only way to be healthy, happy etc, is through the use of dianetics. This is repeated throughout all the scientology websites and books.

http://www.smi.org/dianetics/index.htm


And its all available to you, for a fee of course.

Scientology is a very clever business, and a successful one, but that is all it is, a business. They take ideas that are available to anyone with a working brain, and charge a fee for telling you something that is readily available freely from yourself. A bit like selling bottled water from a tap. Its all about the packaging.

It is the same as other belief systems in the way that, to be a scientologist, you must give up your personal power to the group, and take on the ideas of someone else as your own, ie: the ideas of L Ron Hubbard. Just as with christianity, where you give up your self determination (power), to the ideas of those who wrote the bible. Or with mormonism, you give your power to the church, and the ideas of Joseph Smith, and his book of mormon.

I prefer to live by my own ideas, and not give my power away to a group/business/church/guru etc.

spud

I agree precisely, that's why I moved on, and that reason was because theirs was built on the "ego".

One was told that with "training" one could be a sort of have dominant power over others.

That one could induce "fear" into others by simply "looking them in the eye".

That was not what I was seeking to do in my life.
So without physically employing myself into their ranks I would only have interpretations of their intent.

It did not cost me a cent Spud because I was at the preliminary stages, but to me the writing was on the wall and I was not prepared to be sucked into others illusions of power and control.