Drilling Down on Scientology Trivia Quiz

Answer: Purification Rundown

When a new Scientologist joins the church, they require purification before receiving any training. The purification rundown uses sweating along with doses of niacin well above the medically recommended maximum along other supplements, and claims to be able to remove toxins from the body - although medical science strongly disagrees with these claims and warns of potentially severe side effects.

Answer: Word Clearing

Scientology asserts that communication is the key to all learning, thus it is vital to completely and exactly understand every word. In word clearing practice, the student checks every single word encountered in the source text and, if there is any doubt about a word used in a definition, also looks up those words, until everything is perfectly understood.

For clearing words, Scientology has its own dictionaries which not only include the relevant Scientology terms, but also modify or constrain the definitions of many commonly used words, This allows for practitioners to communicate among each other with precision - at the price of being less able to communicate with non-Scientologists.

Answer: TR-0 (Bullbait)

The "training routines" are designed to get a student used to communicating in the fixed rules and patterns of Scientology. Before, however, any words are exchanged, the student does training routine zero, which comes in two flavors - the basic and the bullbaited version. The basic version just has two students sit, not moving or blinking, staring at each other.

Once this has been mastered (and it can take a long time since even a blink, a sneeze or a tic can lead to a "flunk" - meaning the routine has to be started anew), the second step is to do it "bullbaited". In this version, one of the persons tries everything to get a reaction. This can be jokes, insults, lewd remarks, even touches such as tickles.

Those who take this course often experience strong mental effects, sometimes to the point of hallucinating, from the intense and unusual concentration. The training routines continue with exercises in an extremely formal method of communication. Students learn to deliver lines (reading from a book), ask questions and give answers in a strong, commanding tone and to acknowledge everything said.

Answer: Objectives

The Objectives course is the first step on the long road to Clear (a state of uninhibited mental prowess that is the goal of every Scientology practitioner). The stated goal is to become oriented in the present time. Like many lower-level Scientology processes, the actual drills consist of repetitive patterns. One of the drills at the Objectives level (there are several) is based on walking around, touching walls and similar physical movements. Like in the training routines, the repetitions at this level can lead to an altered mental state that is often felt as a very positive experience by the practitioner.

Answer: TR-8 (Tone 40)

Beyond the basic training routines 0 to 4, there is a second, more advanced set considered part of "upper indoc" (indoctrination). Those are numbered 6 to 9 (there is no 5). The last two of these are about "Tone 40".

In Scientology, the ideal delivery of a line is called tone 40 (derived from maximum number on the "tone scale" of emotional states). The most advanced training routines practice this way of speaking, which is meant to perfectly convey intention and by that making the intended thing happen.

Of course an object (usually a glass ashtray) is not able to move on its own, so the student moves it by hand. In TR-9 the student then practices this commanding tone on a person - a skill needed to become an auditor (trainer) in Scientology.

Answer: Grade 2 (Overts and Withholds)

The grades fully introduce students to one of Scientology's core concepts - auditing. In its basic form, auditing is a one on one counseling session with one auditor (who must himself have been successfully audited on the course and trained to administer it) and one student using a so-called E-Meter whose readings the auditor can see.

In practice, the E-Meter functions a bit like a lie detector in that it reads whether a subject is relaxed or tense, amongst other things.

During each grade, from 0 to 4, a specific concept is audited - but grade 2 is very critical in that the student will essentially do a whole-life confession of sins and secrets. Unlike other churches that practice confession, however, Scientology also keeps complete records of all auditing, thus also of these confessions.

Answer: Solo Auditing

A more advanced form of auditing is solo auditing. In this case, there is no auditor asking questions or reading terms and looking at the E-meter for cues, but the practitioner works off a printed list and then clears each term or concept presented until they feel confident and the E-meter confirms their feeling with the appropriate reading.

All advanced levels after the "clear" status are primarily solo audited, although the member will still need regular auditing to confirm that goals are reached, to correct possible errors or deal with life situations.

Answer: Operating Thetan I

After many years, a Scientologist will have reached the state of Clear and be ready to move on to the Operating Thetan levels. Inside the Church, these levels are very closely guarded secrets, but the materials have leaked onto the internet by those who left - and in court documents, so essentially the content is known.

The first Operating Thetan level is a rather quick process: the newly graduated Clear will walk around, look at people and mentally acknowledge their presence. They do this until they get a cognition - realize something important about themselves and the universe.

At this point, it should maybe be mentioned that unlike most religions, Scientology actually sells its courses and services - and not cheaply. A single course can cost several thousand dollars and the estimated cost to reach Clear is about 200,000 dollars. However, there are also believers and practitioners outside the official Church, who use the leaked materials and mutual assistance to pursue their path. Needless to say, the official Church of Scientology does not look kindly on these.

Answer: Operating Thetan III

Operating Thetan III or the Wall of Fire is probably the most mythical and best guarded part of all of Scientology. It claims to explain how we happen to be on Earth, why we are so severely mentally constrained and how a Thetan (essentially soul/consciousness) can be set free to achieve incredible powers.

The important net realization is that we are not alone in our suffering, but many billions of poor beings were brought to Earth and killed in nuclear blasts millions of years ago - and the Thetans of those are still around.

Answer: Operating Thetan VII

The second highest level available in Scientology is once again about communication. At this level, the practitioner will visit places with many different species (e.g. a zoo or a botanical garden) and communicate with the inhabitants until they are certain to have been received and, if applicable, received an answer. It is a level that can take many years to complete.

After that, there is a last level that is, for reasons of secrecy, only available aboard a Scientology-owned ship. Two very different versions of Operating Thetan VIII have been documented in court records; both have been authentic at some time since Scientology filed a copyright claim on them. It is not known if either version is still in use. The "Bridge to Total Freedom" chart displayed by Scientology goes up to Operating Thetan XV, but they have not been released and it is quite likely they do not actually exist.