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Auditing, also known as processing, is the core practice of Scientology. Scientologists believe that the role of auditing is to improve a person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses. The Scientologist is asked questions about past events while holding two metal cylinders attached to an electrical resistance meter (galvanometer) with a dial.^[7] The term "auditing" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, which describes the process.^[8]: 28

Auditing uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject.^[9] The auditing process involves repeated questioning forming an extended series. It may take several questions to complete a 'process', several processes together are a 'rundown', several rundowns completed and the Scientologist is deemed to have advanced another level on the Bridge to Total Freedom. The Scientologist believes that completing all the levels on the Bridge will return him to his native spiritual state, free of the encumbrances of the physical universe.^{[10][11]: 81}

The electrical device, termed an E-meter, is an integral part of auditing procedure, and Hubbard made numerous unsupported claims of health benefits. The Food and Drug Administration prosecuted Hubbard for practicing medicine without a license. Since 1971, Scientology now publishes disclaimers in its books and publications declaring that the E-Meter "by itself does nothing", and that it is used specifically for spiritual purposes, not for mental or physical health.^[4][3]

L. Ron Hubbard assigned special meanings to many ordinary English words when he wrote about Scientology, and Scientologese has become a language in itself.^[12]: 10 These are some very basic meanings of words Scientology uses when describing this subject.

Auditing

The procedures where two individuals work together to improve one of the person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses.^{[8]: 28–9 [11]: 46–7 [13]}

Auditor

A trained Scientologist who is helping another individual through the use of auditing techniques.^{[8]: 31 [11]: 46–7 [13]: 196} An auditor is only allowed to audit processes (on others) up to the level of training they have completed (their 'class').^[a]

Preclear

The person being helped by an auditor. Also called a "PC".^{[8]: 295, 306 [13]}

Case

The collection of all the preclear's upsets and emotional baggage which auditing is trying to relieve.^{[8]: 60 [13]: 194-5} A preclear's case level is how far a preclear has advanced on the Bridge to Total Freedom.

Session

A single time when an auditor and preclear sit down to do some auditing. It might be for a few minutes or a few hours.^{[8]: 31 [13]}

Process

A specific step in auditing. It may consist of repeatedly asking the preclear the same question (an auditing command) until there is no more upset on that question. Many processes are run during a single session.^{[8]: 316–7 [13]: 198}

Rundown

A series of processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case, such as communication, problems, or happiness. It may take many sessions to complete a rundown.^{[8]: 364 [15]: 98,356}

End phenomenon

Abbreviated "EP", it is what an auditor is looking for that indicates a process, session or rundown has been completed. The EP of a process might be that the preclear realizes something, is happy about it, and the e-meter is showing certain needle movements. The EP of a session might be that several processes have been performed, and the preclear is very happy about it so it is a good point to stop for the day. A rundown would have a specific EP, such as all auditing questions for the rundown have been asked, and the preclear has experienced some sort of realization such as saying they feel they could now communicate freely with anyone on any subject.^{[8]: 139 [13]: 199–200, 204}

Intensive

An "intensive" is a block of 12 1/2 hours purchased in advance by the preclear for auditing services. Auditing is to occur intensively so that the 12 1/2 hours is performed within one week.^{[13]: 191 [16][8]: 212 [17]: 284,517-8} At the end of each session, the hours and minutes used are written down on a form in the preclear's folder, deducted from the amount on account, and the balance is calculated.^[18]

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Auditing in Scientology is an activity where a trained Scientologist, known as an auditor, listens and asks the subject, who is referred to as a "preclear", or more often as a "PC", various questions. L. Ron Hubbard incorporated several hypnotic techniques into auditing practice. It is designed to induce a light hypnotic state and create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject.^[9]

Auditing involves the use of "processes", which are sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor. Based on a prior interview looking for "charged" subjects—"charge" being that which prevents the PC from thinking on a subject or getting rid of a subject or approaching a subject—on the E-meter, found by asking questions to the PC in regard to them and their fancied case. When the specific objective of any one "process" is achieved, the process is ended, and another can then be started. Through auditing, the subjects are said to free themselves from barriers that inhibit their natural abilities. Charged areas can be viewed as areas of misinformation or lies. Once uncovered, they dissipate as their truth becomes apparent and the charge is eliminated once viewed for what it really is, an untruth.

The code outlines a series of 29 promises, which include pledges such as:

• Not to evaluate for the preclear or tell him what he should think about his case in session
• Not to invalidate the preclear's case or gains in or out of session
• Never to use the secrets of a preclear divulged in session for punishment or personal gain

The main intention of an auditing session is to remove "charged incidents" that have caused trauma, which are believed in Scientology to be stored in the "reactive mind". These incidents must then be eliminated for proper functioning.

In 1952, auditing techniques "began to focus on the goal of exteriorizing the thetan" with the goal of providing complete spiritual awareness.^[19]

The "preclear" or "PC" is the person who is being audited—the client, formerly called the "patient". At most levels of auditing, there are two people present: the auditor is the one asking questions, and the preclear is the one answering them. In some of the upper levels, a person audits oneself, being both auditor and preclear at the same time. The term was created back when the ultimate goal of auditing was to create a person who had been cleared, ergo the person being audited was pre-Clear. However, even after Hubbard created the upper levels, the term preclear was still used even if the person had surpassed the state of Clear. The term has continued to represent the role in auditing rather than the level the person has attained.

During an auditing session, the auditor writes down the questions and the preclear's answers, and the papers are stored in the client's PC folder (preclear folder).^{[20]: 24, 57, 99 [21]: 124, 144 [22]: 157 [23]: 13 [8]: 294, 306}

Most auditing sessions employ a device called the Hubbard Electropsychometer or E-Meter. It consists of two tin cans connected to a galvanometer. It gives a crude measure of skin resistance.^{[1][2][3][4][6][5]} The E-Meter is not a custom electrodermal activity measurement device, instead it measures the resistance of the body (flesh, bones, liquids, etc.; skin resistance is only a small part of the total resistance being measured) from one hand through the breast to the other hand. It measures changes in the electrical resistance of the preclear by passing a small electric current (typically in the range from 50 µA to 120 µA) through the preclear's body by means of a pair of tin-plated tubes originally much like empty soup cans, attached to the meter by wires and held by the preclear during auditing. These changes in electrical resistance are allegedly a reliable and precise indication of changes in the "reactive mind" of the preclear.^{[citation needed]}

According to L. Ron Hubbard, the development of the E-Meter enabled auditing techniques and made it more precise. Later, the E-Meter was used to identify which processes should (and could) be run^[24] and equally crucially, to determine when to stop running a particular action. As a repair tool, the E-Meter reacts to a list of possible difficulties and relevant phrases, called out by the auditor, helping to guide the auditor to the difficulty.^[25] Hubbard clarified how the E-Meter should be used in conjunction with auditing:

One of the governing laws of auditing is that you don't run unreading items. It doesn't matter what you are auditing. You don't run unreading items. And you don't run unreading flows. You don't run an unreading anything. Ever. For any reason.

Auditing is aimed at reactivity. You run what reacts on the meter because it reacts and is therefore part of the reactive mind. A read means there is charge present and available to run. Running reading items, flows and questions is the only way to make a pc better. This is our purpose in auditing.

— L. Ron Hubbard, HCO Bulletin 3 December 1978

Hubbard claimed that the device also has such sensitivity that it can measure whether or not fruits can experience pain, claiming in 1968 that tomatoes "scream when sliced".^[26][27][28]

Scientology teaches that individuals are immortal souls or spirits (called thetans by Scientology) and are not limited to a single lifetime. Scientologists state that the E-Meter aids the auditor in locating subliminal memories ("engrams", "incidents", and "implants") of past events in a thetan's current life and in previous ones. In such Scientology publications as Have You Lived Before This Life, Hubbard wrote about past life experiences dating back billions and even trillions of years.^[29]

When various foundations of Dianetics were formed in the 1950s, auditing sessions were a hybrid of confession, counseling and psychotherapy. According to Passas and Castillo, the E-Meter was used to "disclose truth to the individual who is being processed and thus free him spiritually".^[30]

The Bridge to Total Freedom (Bridge), also known as the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart (grade chart), is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom.^{[11]: 134–135 [31]: 48, 296} In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man. [...] In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!"^{[32][33]: 13} The current Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization.^[14][34] A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the OT Levels to higher states of awareness and ability.^{[11]: 134–135} Ultimately, the Scientologist hopes to become, as the sociologist David G. Bromley puts it, "an immortal, godlike expression of the life force".^[35]: 91

Each Grade on the Bridge has a list of processes that auditors should run. Some auditing actions use commands, for example "Recall a time you knew you understood someone," and some auditing actions use questions such as, "What are you willing for me to talk to others about?"^[36] Below are sample commands from processes run in each Grade.

• ARC Straightwire: "Recall a communication."^[37]
• Grade 0: "Recall a place from which you have communicated to another."^[38]
• Grade I: "Recall a problem you have had with another."^[39]
• Grade II: "Recall a secret."^[40]
• Grade III: "Can you recall a time of change?"^[41]
• Grade IV: "What about a victim you could be responsible for?"^[42]

Each Grade is targeted at a specific area of potential difficulty a person might have. The working hypothesis is that if the subject matter is not "charged"; in other words, if it is not causing any difficulty, then it will not read on the E-meter, and therefore will not be run.

John H. Wolfe differentiates auditing from interrogation, prayer, meditation, confession or hypnosis, instead likening it to nondirective therapy: "In its general philosophy and approach, auditing is closest to the nondirective therapy of Carl Rogers (1961), who stressed the importance of having the client find the client's own answers, while the counselor refrains from interpretation, but listens with empathic understanding. Auditing differs from Roger's approach by having the auditor direct the preclear's attention using auditing questions, and by breaking up the session into discrete cycles of action."^[43]

Hubbard defines a rundown as "a series of steps which are auditing actions and processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case and which have a known end phenomena".^[8]: 364 Hubbard devised dozens of rundowns.^[13] The main rundowns are the levels of the Bridge to Total Freedom, which are the codified sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom.^{[11]: 134–135 [31]: 48, 296}

One of the earliest rundowns on the Bridge, which most Scientologists are expected to do, is the Purification Rundown. The "purif" is a sauna-and-sweat detoxification program requiring a high intake of vitamins, allegedly^[b] designed to remove toxins from the body that would inhibit one's recall needed for future auditing.^[15]: 179 Some of the basic levels of the Bridge include rundowns said to alleviate issues with communication, problems, and upsets. The Clear Certainty Rundown is the step where the Church of Scientology verifies that the preclear has correctly attained the State of Clear.^[44][45]

There are specialty rundowns such as the three very high-priced "L's Rundowns" available only at Flag which are promoted as executive boosters and promise the ability to be stably exterior—outside of your body.^[46] The Super Power Rundown is intended to increase one's perceptions; Hubbard said we have 57 senses which he calls "perceptics".^[47][48]

One of the most controversial rundowns is the Introspection Rundown, which is alleged to handle a psychotic episode or complete mental breakdown but was a key factor in the death of Lisa McPherson and has been widely written about.^{[15]: 208–217, 248}

Numerous other rundowns are listed on the right margin of the Bridge to Total Freedom.^[14]

The Scientology auditing process has raised concerns from a number of quarters, as auditing sessions are permanently recorded in the form of handwritten notes in preclear folders, which are supposed to be kept private. Judge Paul Breckenridge, in Church of Scientology of California v. Armstrong, noted that Mary Sue Hubbard (the plaintiff in that case) "authored the infamous order 'GO 121669', which directed culling of supposedly confidential P.C. files/folder for the purposes of internal security".^[49] This directive was later canceled because it was not part of Scientology as written by L. Ron Hubbard. Bruce Hines has noted in an interview with Hoda Kotb that Scientology's collecting of personal and private information through auditing can possibly leave an adherent vulnerable to potential "blackmail" should they ever consider disaffecting from the cult.^[50] A number of sources have claimed that information gleaned from preclear folders have indeed been used for intimidation and harassment.^{[51][52][53][33]: 254, 276, 277, 332, 333, 340, 393}

In 1965 the Anderson Report, an official inquiry conducted for the state of Victoria, Australia, found that auditing involved a form of "authoritative" or "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the subject. "It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous. [...] the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute [...] which was virtually unchallenged—leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology."^[54]: 115

L. Ron Hubbard claimed benefits from auditing including improved IQ, improved ability to communicate, enhanced memory and alleviation of issues such as psychosis, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.^[55][56] Some people have alleged that auditing amounts to medical treatment without a license, and in the 1950s, some auditors were arrested on the charge.^[11]: 62 The Church disputes that it is practicing medicine, and it has successfully established in United States courts of law that auditing addresses only spiritual relief.^[57] According to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being. Hubbard clarified the difference between the two:

If we processed a specific type of aberration, we of course would be in the field of mental healing, and so forth. But long ago we actually discovered that we must not process specific aberrations, which takes us out of the field of mental healing. It is quite fatal to do this because in the first place it's an evaluation for the case. In the second place, it's a negative type process; you're condemning the individual for hitting girls. Doesn't validate the individual at all. Do you follow? And if carried on very long, does not result in the betterment of an individual. All we're interested in is the spiritual betterment of the individual[.]^[58]

In 1971, a ruling of the United States District Court, District of Columbia (333 F. Supp. 357), specifically stated that the E-meter "has no proven usefulness in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease, nor is it medically or scientifically capable of improving any bodily function."^[4] As a result of this ruling, Scientology now publishes disclaimers in its books and publications declaring that the E-meter "by itself does nothing" and that it is used specifically for spiritual purposes.^[4]

Dutch investigative reporter Rinke Verkerk reported that she was given an auditing session by an 11-year-old in the Netherlands.^[59] This has been criticized by clinical psychologists and child psychologists, on the grounds that secondary stress can affect children more strongly than adults.^[60] The fact that the child was working full days for a whole weekend was also considered to be problematic.^[60]

• Scientology security checks

• Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter