Mr. David Miscavige's 1996 Address
Mr. David Miscavige Chairman of the
Board, Religious Technology Center
OPENING ADDRESS IN HONOR OF
L. RON HUBBARD'S
BIRTHDAY
- 1996 -
On New Year’s Eve 1995, Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board, Religious Technology Center, gave a glimpse of what was to come in 1996: new means of bringing Scientology to the world like never before.
Two and a half months later, at the 1996 L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Celebration, the unveiling of the first of these new programs took place. Before a capacity audience at Scientology’s spiritual mecca in Clearwater, Florida, the Flag Land Base — and a worldwide satellite broadcast viewership — Mr. David Miscavige began the event with an introductory speech focusing on the numerous tributes and awards recognizing L. Ron Hubbard and the ever-increasing public demand for his technology.
Thank you very much.
It’s great to be here with you tonight, for the biggest birthday celebration ever for any 20th century figure.
This is truly a worldwide celebration—one that literally reaches every corner of the world.
Tonight we celebrate L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday in no less than 58 countries. Not only that, tonight we welcome 29 cities and 11 countries that are celebrating L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday with us for the first time.
So please welcome those in attendance from Guinea, India, Madagascar, Moldovia, Romania, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Ukraine, Palestine and Ghana.
What is it that we do tonight?
We celebrate one man–L. Ron Hubbard.
Who else can claim such a universe of friends, from every corner of the globe? And real friends—not ones who simply pay respect, but those who know you with such true friendship, and closeness, that they call you by a single name.
And with that one first name —“Ron”— millions around the globe know exactly who is meant.
Mr. David Miscavige continued…
But, there is more.
After all, what we are really celebrating is the freedom that L. Ron Hubbard has brought us—and so many people—through a technology anyone can apply. And, he would certainly appreciate the fact that today his priceless discoveries and technology reach out to so many people in so many lands.
It is equally gratifying that so many people in so many lands themselves reach out to embrace Scientology.
Yes, Scientology is truly universal.
As L. Ron Hubbard said, “Scientology is for the people and of the people.”
In that simple statement Mr. Hubbard capsulized his profound belief that everyone is worthy of help, regardless of their circumstances, regardless of their social status, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Everyone is deserving of knowledge, wisdom and truth.
Everyone is deserving of the opportunity to step out of the darkness and into the light of Scientology.
And not surprisingly, a grateful planet showers its gratitude on L. Ron Hubbard.
Official recognitions and awards from community leaders are a rare thing. Great men may receive half a dozen in an entire lifetime. Yet, year after year, organizations, individuals and governments bestow hundreds of awards and recognitions, celebrating the life and work of L. Ron Hubbard.
They represent the trust mayors, governors and other officials have in L. Ron Hubbard, literally presenting the key to the front door of their entire city.
They come from all parts of the U.S. and world.
But let’s not forget what these awards represent.
Behind each is a story—a story of how someone, or many someone’s, applied L. Ron Hubbard’s technology and achieved a miraculous result.
They represent the teachers in towns like Santa Maria, Colombia who learned Mr. Hubbard’s study technology so they could teach their students better.
They represent more than 100 Red Cross volunteers in Indonesia, and even more in the Philippines who are now using his assist technology.
And, they also represent the citizens of Tilden, Nebraska, L. Ron Hubbard’s birthplace.
One community leader there put it in perspective:
“We may not be the largest city in America, or the largest city in the state for that matter—or even the county—but we have L. Ron Hubbard.
“He was born here and he’s one of ours!”
L. Ron Hubbard had a unique ability to leave an indelible impression wherever he went. And his legacy persists even where he didn’t go. His influence and the power of his technology is nothing less than miraculous.
And those miracles happen in amazing places.
The Ensenada State Prison, located in a desolate Mexican region of Baja California, is a cruel, desperate place.
One statistic will tell you all you need to know: 80% of the inmates are also heroin addicts.
Yet, in that prison, 47 inmates have taken over a room and established their own Narconon drug rehabilitation program, led by a Scientology Volunteer Minister, who is a graduate of the Narconon administrator training at the Chilocco international training facility in Oklahoma.
Inmates—some of whom have been incarcerated for 20 years or more—are using L. Ron Hubbard’s technology to step from the darkness of their crimes and their cells.
And, they are earnest about stepping into the light L. Ron Hubbard lit for them.
“Earnest” isn’t strong enough a word.
One of the inmates was up for parole.
For the first time in 23 years, he was eligible to step outside and be a free man.
There was only one problem—he had not yet completed the Narconon drug rehabilitation program offered by the prison.
So, he petitioned the warden, explained his situation and respectfully requested that he be allowed to remain in prison until graduation. And yes, that petition was granted and this individual is now achieving real freedom.
In the past few minutes you’ve heard about teachers who have reached out for L. Ron Hubbard’s technology.
You’ve heard about civic leaders who have embraced L. Ron Hubbard’s vision.
And, you’ve now heard about a prisoner who chose the technology over release, so that when freedom finally came, it could be savored rather than squandered.
All of these people stepped out of their private darkness that confined them, and into the light L. Ron Hubbard shone on the path before them.
But there’s yet another group that—more and more—is turning to L. Ron Hubbard for answers.
Today, more than ever, religious leaders from other faiths are turning to Scientology for answers.
In Washington DC, Black Muslims are learning to co-audit Dianetics.
A minister in Florida is conducting Dianetics seminars so that his congregation “Can rid themselves of their reactive minds.”
As many of you here know, leaders of various branches of the Shinto religion travelled to the Flag Service Organization from Japan, just last month.
Shinto is Japan’s oldest religion, and one of the oldest religions practiced anywhere in the world.
The delegation of dignitaries that we had the honor of hosting included the “Eighth holder of the secrets of Yui Itso Shinto.”
He is particularly revered within the faith because, as his title suggests, he is only the eighth man in over 1,400 years entrusted to keep the secrets of his religion and to hold that exalted title.
Beyond that, he is also a pre-eminent theologian—a scholar not only of Shinto, but also widely renowned as a scholar of Eastern and Western religions, including Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
This is a man who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of wisdom wherever it could be found, sifting through oceans of data, hoping to find that one drop of wisdom, as Mr. Hubbard put it, with which to unravel all mysteries.
And then came the day he picked up the Factors [general considerations by which the game of life is played, written by L. Ron Hubbard in 1953] and read, “Before the beginning was a Cause and the entire purpose of the Cause was the creation of effect.”—L. Ron Hubbard.
That one, solitary drop of wisdom led to a flood.
He wanted to learn more—he needed to learn more.
After the Shinto dignitaries left Flag they journeyed to Los Angeles, where they toured the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition.
During the tour they were intrigued by the fact that one of them looked so much like old Mao, the magician for Kubla Khan [a painting of a young L. Ron Hubbard and old Mao hangs in the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition].
After they returned home to Japan, these spiritual leaders not only arranged for their own Scientology auditing to continue, but they also arranged for Dianetics co-auditing to begin for others, right there in a Shinto temple.
Gautama Siddhartha—“the Buddha”—prophesized that the fulfillment of his dream would occur in 2,500 years.
The leader of this delegation had dated, through intensive research, the exact year which would be 2,500 years after the prophecy.
That year?
1950.
And that Shinto leader has no question that he found the answer he was searching for.
He wrote to us upon his return to Japan.
Here is what he said:
“Scientology is the religion of religions.
“Of this I am 100% certain.
“It is what we in the East have been seeking all these past millennia.
“It is what all the great religious leaders have sought.
“Words cannot express my undying appreciation to Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, for fulfilling the prophecies of long ago, and bringing to man the way to spiritual freedom.”
What that Shinto leader speaks of, however, is the search all man has had for the eons.
Mr. David Miscavige concluded….
And, thanks to L. Ron Hubbard, we as Scientologists all know the way out of the darkness and into the light, out of a universe that knows only how to decay and into L. Ron Hubbard’s technology that offers only spiritual freedom and the way to achieve it.
And so, that is why we are all here tonight.
L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday event is always special.
It not only celebrates the successes of another year of application, but heralds the beginning of new and even bigger successes.
Tonight, we will take many giant steps into the future!
This saw the close of Mr. David Miscavige’s speech.
