Restoring L. Ron Hubbard Lectures

Restoring Mr. Hubbard's lectures from the period was the other phase of the project. In the 1950s, he delivered hundreds of lectures to Dianeticists and Scientologists, each expanding on some aspect of the corresponding book. Although recorded, many of these lectures had never been broadly available due to lack of reproduction facilities in the Church's formative years. An earlier project had scoured the cities where the lectures were delivered—Los Angeles, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Wichita, London, Melbourne, Johannesburg—and rounded up all known original recordings. But mass reproduction was still hindered by the poor quality of many of the originals or by their deterioration over the years. Factually, despite various restoration attempts through the years, many of the lectures had never been heard since the day they were delivered.

By the turn of the 21st century, however, computer and digital technology had advanced dramatically, and the painstaking work was begun anew—this time with result. But even then, to achieve the quality befitting the content, the Church continually pushed boundaries of existing audio technology and thereby established the world's most sophisticated sound restoration studios. Tens of thousands of hours later, the project had successfully restored hundreds of hours of previously missing, distorted or inaudible recordings. The net result was the recovery of an enormous body of Scientology Scripture for today and forever.

 

This monumental undertaking in research, verification, editorial and audio was directed at every step by Mr. Miscavige. From this came the most dramatic achievement in the Church's history: recovery of the very foundations of the Scientology religion. Eighteen books by L. Ron Hubbard, perfect in every detail; the corresponding lecture series for each book, 280 lectures in all, produced inhouse on CD; each lecture series including verified transcripts and supplemental references; and each book and lecture series containing a massive glossary, defining words as Mr. Hubbard used them to ensure understanding by any listener. And to cap it all, every book and lecture was reproduced and released in the world's 15 major languages.

And that is why this is truly a Golden Age of Knowledge for every Scientologist.

As Mr. Miscavige summed it up: "And just in case you missed it—we are not speaking of 'corrected' manuscripts. Not 'newly verified' manuscripts. And definitely not just 'repackaged.' What we are speaking of is 100 percent unadulterated SOURCE."

To know that they are receiving the actual material from the source of the Scientology religion, L. Ron Hubbard, is the primary goal of every Scientologist. And Mr. Miscavige made it possible.

The Basics Create Demand for Dianetics and Scientology

The release of the basic books and lectures means that every Scientologist can now study the foundation of the Scientology religion easily, rapidly and in chronological sequence, thereby gaining an unprecedented understanding of the religion and its application to life. Tens of thousands of Scientologists have done just that.

As but one measure of its impact, in the 50 years prior to the release of The Basics, a total of 39 million copies of L. Ron Hubbard's written and spoken works on Dianetics and Scientology were in circulation. Since release—that is, in the last two years alone—more than 60 million L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures are in the hands of readers.

With all of those materials available in 15 languages, and the most basic of them in 50 languages, the total number of Dianetics and Scientology translations over the last decade is 10 times the previous five decades. In recognition of just that, the Guinness Book of Records has acknowledged L. Ron Hubbard as the world's most translated author.

But, of course, the real significance of the basic Dianetics and Scientology materials can only be measured in terms of people's lives. Whether to better one's ability to get along with others, mend a broken marriage, acquire artistic skill or improve job performance through increased competence—not to mention the attainment of total spiritual freedom—the books and lectures of Scientology contain principles that millions have applied to achieve their goals.