------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00001 L 1~ RON HUBBARD Me,c 'h O v SI ~a dm an 2 by Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Lyle Stuart Inc. SeCaUCUS , New Jersey Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00002 Copyright O 1987 by ~3ent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. Published by Lyle Stuart Inc. 120 Enterprise Ave., Secaucus, N.J. 07094 111 Canada: Musson Book Company a division of General Publishing Co. Limited Don Mills, Ontario All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passqges in connection with a review. Oueries regarding rights and permissions should be addressed to: Lyle Stuart, 120 Enterprise Avenue Secaucus. N.J. 07094 Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicat;ion Data Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard, messiah or madman? 1. Hubbard, L. Ron (La Fayette Ron), 1911- 2. Scientologists--United States.-Biography. 3. Church of Scientology--History, I. Hubbard, L. Ron. II. Title BP605.S2C67 1987 299'.936'0924 ~B] 87-10252 ISBN 0-8184-0444-2 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00003 Contents Note 7 Preface 8 Introduction 11 PART I (1967-1984) THE ADVENTURES OF THE COMMODORE 1. A Sea~dring Messiah with a "Mission to Save the Planet" 19 2. Searching for Treasure Stashed in Previous Lives 38 3. L. Ron and the Beast 45 4. "Mankind's Only Hope" 57 5. The Liability Cruise and Other Adventures 66 6. Wogs Versus Operating Thetans 74 7. Fear in the Master's Eye 87 8. Crucifying the Evil Out! 95 9. The Brainwashing Manual 101 10. The Sea Org Goes Ashore 112 11. "I Let Him Undress Me Without Resisting" 123 12. Souls Turned Inside Out 132 13. Snow White and the Scientology 11 147 14. Freaking Out Paulette 164 15. "I Resigned in 1966~'--Hubbard, from Secret Desert Command Post 171 5 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00004 6 (:<,NTENTS 16. The Saviour Lives Just Down the Road! ltl0 17. Hubbard Derails a Reform Movement 191 18. Hubbard's "Billion Dollar Caper" 1Y8 19. The Saviour's Revenge 203 20. Thousands Break from Hubbard~s Church 211 21. Hubbard's PR Biographies Exposed 219 22. "Operation Juggernaut": Hubbard Targets Boston Lawyer 230 23. The Boss's "Withholds" Are Revealed in a Wog Court 238 PAHT II "UNSCRUPULOUS WOMANIZER" TO "ASCENDED MESSIAH" 1. Sex Magic in Pasadena 255 2. The Origins of Dianetics 262 3. Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health 274 4. The "Kidnapping" 281 5. Sara Speaks 287 6. Dianetics Abandoned 296 7. "The Blood of Their Bodies, the Blood of Their Souls" 304 8. Scientology in the Fifties 309 9. Lord of the Manor 315 10. Clay in the Masteis Hands 319 11. Heads in Toilets 337 12. Are You Haunted? 349 13. Through the Wall of Fire! 360 14. The Sea Org Revisited 367 15. Typewriter in the Sky 375 16. Reflections 384 The Aftermath Glossary 390 394 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00005 Note No human being exists who was close to L. Kon Hubbard through- out his entire adult life. Ronald DeWolf, aka L. Ron Hubbard, J'., Hubbard's oldest son who co-authored this book, is among the few living who spent a substantial stretch of time with him. Mary Sue Hubbard (Hubbard's third wife) is another, but she is not talking. During the crucial formative years of Dianetics (the forerunner of Scientology), Hubbard was married to Sara Northrup, his second wife. An intelligent, literate and credible woman, Sara spoke with Bent Corydon shortly before the publication of this book. It was an exclusive interview. Fearing for the safety of her daugh- ter, she had said nothing publicly for thirty-five years regarding her former husband. She agreed to speak to Corydon because Hubbard had died, lessening the threat, and because of her confidence in her attorney, who encouraged the interview. Ron J'. left the organization and his father in December 1959. Bent Corydon joined Scientology in 1961. Corydon was a member of the Church of Scientology for some 22 years and became one of the most successful "mission holders" (a non- profit Church "franchise" holder), building up the world's largest single Scientology mission in Riverside, California, and also another in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Riverside mission occupied a forty thou- sand square foot building and, at its peak, had 180 full-time staff. During this time he made many close friends, some of whom held high positions in the Church where they spent thousands of hours working personally with Hubbard. In 1976 Hubbard secretly moved to Hiverside County, near Cory- don's mission, setting off a maelstrom of events which eventually swept Corydon and others towards a confrontation with Hubbard; events which helped expose a great many of his secrets to view. This combination of people and events has finally made the telling of this amazing story possible. Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00006 PrefaCe In 1979 Omar Carrison, a professional writer who had previously written three books at the request of L. Ron Hubbard's agents, was commissioned by him to write Hubbard's biography. He was given access to thous~nds of private documents, many of which Hubbard erroneously believed no longer existed. Garrison spent 18 months poring over them and interviewing people from Hubbard's past. As he gained more and more information, he came to a decision that he could not, in good conscience, write the "PR" biographjl that had been intended. In early 1984, disgusted by the entire affair and realizing he could not prevail over the inevitable harassment and legal/financial obstacle course awaiting him, Garrison accepted a large cash sum from Hubbard's agents not to write the biography which he was then plan- ning~ This one would have given what was, in his own estimation, a truthful account of Hubbard's life. Garrison's efforts to bring out the truth turned out not to have been in vain. The majority of the documents and information, on which he was to have based his biography, were revealed in a trial in a Los An- geles courtroom in mid-1984. Gerry Armstrong, who assisted Garri- son by locating thousands of Hubbard documents, and who was the subject of this trial, was consulted extensively. These revelations backed up many of the stories told to me byHub- bard's first son, Ron Jr. In 1970 Paulette Cooper wrote, and had published, a book called The Scandal of Scientology containing some biographical matter on Hubbard. She was hounded by Church of Scientology agents for a decade and at one period was almost convicted on Federal felony charges, having been framed by Church agents. Recently, after the Church discovered that the book you are read- ing was being written, a roughly six foot four inch, 250 lb. man in 8 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00007 Prefuce 9 black leather jacket and gloves arrived at my workplace asking for me. Failing to locate me, he told one of my assistants, "Since Corydon's not here, you'll do." He then yelled, "You are standing in the way of Ron's bridge!"' and proceeded to punch him in the face and knock him around. Obscene and threatening phone calls to my home became com- monplace, often occurring while I was out and directed at my wife, telling her, "We know you're alone.~' L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. ~ was contracted as co-author of this book and co-operated for more than half of its writing, providing information. He was then offered an undisclosed amount of money by Church of Scientology representatives to settle his claim against his father's es- tate. There was, however, also a requirement that he must cease any assistance on the book and remove his name from it. He signed papers to that effect. Lyle Stuart, the publisher, having in hand a prior signed contract, decided to go ahead regardless. The settlement ended a 26-year ordeal imposed upon him by his father. Less than a year after Ron J'. left his father's organization in 1959, he was talking openly about his experiences. This was when his father wrote an omcial Church policy stating: If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization, always find or manufacture ehough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace. (Emphasis added) In 1972, Ron Jr. had signed a letter saying, in effect, that statements he had made about his ~ather were false. He later claimed he did so after much harassment. Whenever Ron J'. has spoken publicly since then, the Church has trotted out his "signed retraction." Unfortunately for the Church, many other documents have sur- faced in court that have backed up the majority ofwhat Hubbard's son had.been saying. And nothing he has said about his father has, to my knowledge, been disproven. During my visits to his home in Carson City, Nevada, I found Ron Hubbard, J'.~ a gentle man who showed enormous affection for his wife and now grown children. He claimed that the well-being of his then young family was the chief consideration in signing this specious document. *The "bridge" which would "Lead Man to a higher plateau of happiness and abilitv." Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00008 10 rHEFA(:~ I felt this had a ring of truth. Especially when added to what I knew of the sinister ability of Hubbard's agents to "persuade" others into complying with his intentions. Ron J'. is a diabetic. During the six months prior to his ~86 settle- ment he had had part of his foot amputated and hovered near death for three days during a subsequent operation on his abdomen. These events, besides causing physical and emotional trauma, had left him in a financially devastated condition. Nevertheless, though Ron J'.'s lips were being sealed, he refused, this time, to sign any amdavit disclaiming his prior statements. Concurrent with "the Church making peace" with Hubbard's eld- est son, a woman-now in her mid-thirties with red hair and unmis- takable features distinguishing her as a Hubbard-whose first name is Alexis, was paid a sum of money to settle her claim to part of Hubbard's estate. She refused, however, to sign a document presented to her as part of the agreement by Church of Scientology representatives. It spelled out a bizarre claim that L. Ron Hubbard Junior is her real father. (The probate case being settled was based on the fact that the de- ceased L. Ron Hubbard Senior is her real father. His name is on her birth certificate.) This attempt to get L. Ron Hubbard's daughter by his second mar- riage to attest that Hubbard's son is her real father was the latest in a long series of often shockingly successful cover-ups. **** Who was Hubbard? What are the many secrets he worked (and now his Church works) so hard to keep concealed? The story of L. Ron Hubbard is a study of the bizarre. The more one knows about him, the more one feels he should have been impos- sible. It just could not happen. But there he was: A chain-smoking enigmatic bundle of contradictions. Ron J'. and his stepmother for five years, Sara Northrup Hubbard, were witness to a very different man from the one known to Scientol- ogy's zealous followers. Indeed they probably know him better than anyone. They had stepped inside a very private and secret universe and stepped out again. They had entered the magic circle and escaped. And lived to talk about it. But barely. Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00009 Introd~X ction "Mankind Ha S No Better Friend" "Best-selling author, Founder of Scientology, friend to millions," proclaims the headline of a full-page paid announcement in the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers across the planet. Under a photograph of the Founder the text continues: L. Ron Hubbard . . . a man whose tremendous contributions to vir- tually all Calks oflife have made him the greatest humanitarian in his- tory. Indeed, few men have achieved so much in so many different fields. Author, philosopher, educator, research pioneer, musician, photogra- pher, cinematographer, horticulturalist, navigator, explorer and hu- manitarian-Mr. Hubbard has been widely recognized for his contri- butions in all of these fields. . . . Presented are many eulogies, including: "My only sorrow is that L. Ron Hubbard left before I could thank him for my new life."-SoNNy BoNo. "Dynamic, dramatic, dynamiticthis was the red-headed ball of fire I first met in 1937. Ten years later I became his agent. He gave the world of science fiction and fantasy two acknowledged inasterpieces: Final Blackout and Fear. In both the literary world and the mundane he left a mark on humankind that will be felt in the 21st century, a century about which he frecluently wrote and which in 'real' life he at- tempted to influence for the better. I see him now, blazing away on 11 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00010 12 INTHO1,UCTI~,N that Typewriter in the SkY."-FOHREST J. ACKERMAN, Renowned Science Fiction Agent and Author. "L. Ron Hubbard set a star-high goal for us. He documented it with pure science. He taught it with pure love. He's left nothing but pure inspiration."-CHICK COREA, award-winning Jazz Composer and Mu- sician. A subsequent glossy memorial booklet was included as a supple- ment in issues of the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. **** A few days prior to the first advertised collection of eulogies . . . 27 January 19B6: Scientology Churches and Missions all over the planet are ordered by International Management to close their doors. Their staff and public are instructed to proceed to specified locations where they will view a special event broadcast via satellite. Those Scientologists from the Los Angeles area are told to proceed directly to the Hollywood Palladium. The event is to start at seven P.M. sharp. Every seat is filled well before then. Large speakers above the stage blast forth stirring music. The stage is decorated with giant Scientology symbols and huge photographs of the Founder. The music and setting have an obvious impact on the audience, representing the reach of Scientologists for ultimate spiri- tual freedom and ability. As the music reaches its finale, 24-year-old "Commander" David Miscavage appears. He is a tiny man and his slim frame cuts a small figure on the large stage. Wearing a dress naval uniform of the elite Sea Organization, he is resplendent with gold braid and shoulder lan- yard. Miscavage, the de facto third most powerful executive of the Church of Scientology~ now that Hubbard is gone, begins to speak. (None of the people in the audience is yet aware that Hubbard is dead). MISCAVAGE: I've very happy that you could all make it to this important briefing this evening. In 1980 LRH moved off the lines so that he could continue his writ- ings and research without any distractions. For many years Ron had Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00011 IntrodlLction 13 said that ifhe was given the time, and ifothers wore their hats* and did their jobs in expanding the Church, he would be able to concentrate on and complete all of his researches into the upper OT** levels, so that the bridge*** would be laid out in full for all of us. Over the past six years LRH has been intensively researching the upper bands of OT. . . . Approximately two weeks ago, he completed all ofhis researches he set out to do. The crowd, awed and delighted, responds with oohs and aahs and abundant applause. Commander Miscavage continues: He has now moved on to the next level of OT research. It's a level beyond anything any of us ever imagined. This level is in fact done in an exterior state. Meaning that it is done completely exterior from the body. At this level of OT, the body is nothing more than in impediment and encumberance to any further gain as an OT. Thus at 2000 hours, the 24th of January, AD36,t L. Ron Hubbard discarded the body he had used in this life time for 74 years 10 months and 11 days. ... He thought it was important that Scientologists be the first to become aware of this fact. . . The body is a physical object. It is not the being himself. The being we know as L. Ron Hubbard still exists; however, the body could no longer serve his purposes. His decision was made at complete cause.... He has simply moved on to his next step. . . LRH, in fact, used this lifetime in the body we knew, to accom- plish what no man has ever accomplished. He unlocked the mysteries oflife, and gave us the tools so we could free ourselves and our fellow man. L. Ron Hubbard completed everything he set out to do and more. The fact that he causatively, willing]y discarded the body, after it was no longer useful to him, signifies his ultimate success: the con- quest of life that he embarked upon half a century ago. Miscavage begins to clap, slowly almost mechanically. His ever- *Did their jobs. '*Operating Thetan. A spiritual being restored to his "native state" of godlike abili- ties. ***A gradient series of steps leading, supposedly, to O.T. tAfter Dianetics (Hubbard's book Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health was published in 19501. Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00012 14 INTRODUC:TION~ present fierce stare becoming even more intense. The packed Palla- dium bursts into applause during which the crowd is led in a series of Hip-hip hoorays! The applause lasts for some twenty minutes until Miscavage finally stops, permitting the rest to do the same. Commander David Miscavage is obviously pleased and, perhaps, a little relieved. Miscavage introduces Earle Cooley, Boston lawyer and recently proclaimed "Scientologist.~~ He is a large man with a face reminiscent ofa well-fed, aging Irish boxer. Cooley announces that he has seen to the execution of the wishes expressed by Hubbard in his will; that he has contacted the coroner's omce and the funeral parlor, and that the body was cremated the next day at three P.M. (less than 24 hours after his death). COOLEY: There are several very important matters that I wish to bring to your attention . First, the body of L. Ron Hllbbard was sound aIld strong and fully capable of serving this Mighty Thetan [Scientology word for Spiritual Beingl for many years, had that suited his purpose. . . Thus, by the decision to continue his work outside the confines of his body, and by the decision to do it now, L. Ron Hubbard has given the ultimate expression of his love for you. He has, in effect, told us the Church is in good hands: "You can do it all. Your future is assured. Secure in this knowledge I go about my work elsewhere. You have all of the tools. You have all of the resources to take this planet and to save Mankind. "Support and rally behind your leaders. Together you will win the total victory and achieve the llltimate goals of Scientology. Take what I have given you with my love." In 1949 a broke middle-aged science fiction writer authored a book which became a best seller: Dianetics, the Modem Science ofMental Health. Mail arrived at his doorstep by the sack-load, and the money rolled in. In 1952 that author, L. Ron Hubbard, unveiled a more spiritually oriented subject, Scientology. One year later, he founded the Church of Scientology, using his Dianetic following as a base. Over the years it grew, becoming a multi-million dollar operation. Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00013 IntrodzLction 15 The Encyclopedia Brittanica 1972 Yearhook states: "According to a study by Peter Kowley [author of] New Gods in Americn . . . largest of the new religions is Scientology.~' Werner Erhard, of EST fame, called L. Kon Hubbard the "greatest philosopher of the twentieth Century." Researchers in the field of para-psychology at Stanford Research Institute went so far as to have many of the various Scientology coun- seling techniques applied to themselves. For over a quarter of a century Hubbard lectured to audiences all over the world. He was exciting, witty, charming and brilliant. Celebrities arrived seeking enlightenment. John Travolta, Karen Black, Chick Corea, Stephen Boyd, Gloria Swanson, William Bur- rough's ... the list goes on.... There are even those who clairn to have witnessed him change his body's size, read minds, move objects telekinetically, or zoom up lad- ders defying gravity.... To his followers he is the reincarnation of the Buddha: The much- prophesied Messiah awaited by untold millions in the Far East and throughout the world. The Meitreya; "Iie whose naIne is kindness"; the one with the golden hair. It had been prophesied he would ap- pear in the West, some two and a half thousand years after Buddha's death. Wrote Hubbard: Everywhere you are I can be addressed But in yollr temples best Address me and you address Lord Buddha Address Lord Buddha And you then address Meitreya. Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00014 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00015 PARTI (1967-1984) THE ADVE.?.TURE S OF THE COM_llODORE Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00016 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00017 1 A' Messiah with a 3ea~ arlng (MiSSion to Save th e Planet" In the fifties, when L. Ron Hubbard established himself as the "lighthearted" leader of what was presented as an anti-authoritarian "scientific religion," it never occurred to anyone that he would, even- tually, become the Commodore of his own private navy, and absolute dictator of an enormous authoritarian bureaucracy. Scientology was a roaring financial success in the sixties, and purchasing a ship was well within his means. So, late in 1966, he bought a yacht and two ships in England, and another ship for crew- training purposes in the States: a small flotilla. The largest of these was the 342-foot ship Royal Scotsman (later renamed the Apollo), which had been used, during the Second World War, as transport for Winston Churchill. These years, and into the late seventies, marked the peak of Hubbard's drama, and are noteworthy for, among other things, his defiance of the powers that be-including the United States govern- ment. It was during this time that the bulk of the Church's assets (said by Church President Heber Jenzsch to be a billion dollars) were accu- mulated, and during which he built the Sea Organization. It was also during this period that Scientology completed its transi- tion into a militant cult; a transition that took a decade and a half. Hubbard did all this while claiming that he had resigned from the Church management in 1966 (an announcement which was carried by most of the major media at the time). He was merely a writer in seclu- sion, he said. 19 Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00018 20 THE AL)VENTUKES OF T~-IE COMMOD()KE But as "Commodore" of the "Sea Org,~~ he remained in control of the movement. **** In the 1960s Scientology boomed. On five coIltinents students of Scientology studied intently in "academies" at their "local Churches." People arrived in droves to take courses. Counseling techniclues- directed toward resolving such things as learning disabilities, psycho- somatic ills, unwanted fears and compulsions, drug and alcohol de- pendency, communication problems, upsets in life, and many other areas--were studied, practiced and applied. At L. Ron Hubbard's home, a large Georgian manor on a 40-acre estate in the rolling green countryside of Sussex, England, hundreds of eager students were attending the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. This course featured live lectures by L. Ron Hubbard until his departure in December 1966, when he began his "Sea Project.'~ By this time there were also two other "advanced organizations" where "upper level" counseling and training were done (in Scotland, soon to be moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, and in Los Angeles). **** I had become involved in Scientology at the age of 19 in 1961, hav- ing been impressed with Hubbard's books and the theory and prac- tice of Scientology's counseling methods. "Man is basically good,~' Hubbard had explained. And now with a truly workable science of the mind and spirit, that basic goodness could be freed of aberrations-the dark impulses, pain, and confu- sions-that had enveloped it. Punishment and duress were now no longer necessary to maintain order and so allow society to operate. Besides, punishment "didn't work," and was only a short-term solution, making matters worse in the long run. With the know-how contained in Scientology, Hubbard explained, Mankind could finally attain to a high level ofrationality. Mutual understanding and freedom were now possible. "Ron," as we referred to him (he had encouraged us to feel that he was our personal friend), had spoken to us in books and on tape about our unrealized mental and spiritual abilities, of the state of "clear, " where an individual is not held down by negative or traumatic experi- ences of the past, is fully alive in the "here and now," able to enjoy life fully. A "clear" would operate at full mental capacity, and have the ability to recall anything that has ever happened to him. He Corydon\Messiah or Madman\Page.00019 A Seufaring Messiah 21 would be free of psychosomatic ills. These ills, Hubbard had as- serted, comprise 75 percent of all man's ailments. We, like most Scientologists, believed we were on our way to creating a new civilization-a truly sane planet. Personal "success stories" abounded. Anyone listening to these stories and watching the faces of the people could not but be impressed with their personal gains and genuine enthusiasm. "Scientology Works" was the message . Hubbard had told Scientologists to be great. Greatness meant that one continued to love others despite all invitations to hate. He had said that the essential self, the soul or "thetan," never dies; but sim- ply "drops" one body and then goes off in search of another, to be born once more and start another round. He had, we believed, mapped out and "built a bridge" (a system of counseling techni