The Beginner's Guides to L Ron Hubbard, Islam and Hinduism
First shown on Channel 4 in September 2006
The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard
Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli is consumed with curiosity about Scientology and its founder, L Ron Hubbard. But his quest requires dealing with rejection by the Church of Scientology and a lot of talking, reading and travelling.
Hardeep's parents instilled in him the Sikh perspective that there are many roads to God so, despite widespread criticisms of the Church of Scientology, he's happy to attempt to investigate its beliefs. Founded by sci fi writer L Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, Scientology has some high profile celebrity supporters but is extremely reluctant to share its secrets.
The Church of Scientology refuses to participate in Hardeep's programme. But he finds a way to learn some of its secrets through the Freezoners – defectors who say they practise the philosophy of L Ron Hubbard outside the church.
He is told that the philosophy has many layers, that it's not easy to learn but is worth persevering with because it will improve his life but he is worried about rumours that Scientology and its offshoots use brainwashing. Hardeep finds a mentor to guide him through the principles of their religion, who takes him on a long train journey to a disused children's summer camp building hidden deep in snowy Russia, where the number of followers is growing. Here he will receive his basic training.
Hardeep reads and reads. The book is simple but bizarre. He understands each individual word, he says, but not what they mean all together. His mentor says he should keep reading. He is being prepared for 'auditing', a process of one-to-one questions and answers, while the person being 'audited' holds a device that, according to devotees, measures the body's stress.
As well as reading, he has to make models in plasticine to 'give physical form to mental force'. Hardeep makes a model of dogs having sex – he has a problem with authority! But he has to pass each stage before being allowed to move on the next.
He and his mentor also do role-plays of the one-to-one 'auditing' to see whether they can make the other person react emotionally. The questions and answers are repetitive, simple and, in this weird setting, isolated from his own world, it is starting to make sense.
The 'auditing' session arrives and Hardeep's fears of brainwashing return. Holding on to the 'e-meter', he talks about what he wants to change in his life, puts some of his fears into words, and emerges from the session feeling 'lightheaded'. Did Hardeep find God through the teachings of L Ron Hubbard. 'That would be a tall order in two weeks,' he says.
