Clear Body, Clear Mind

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clear Body, Clear Mind! by L. Ron Hubbard.
Clear Body, Clear Mind! by L. Ron Hubbard.

Clear Body, Clear Mind is a book published in 1990 by The Church of Scientology's publishing house Bridge Publications. It is credited to L. Ron Hubbard although it was published years after his death, and largely is a modified reprint of text from previous works. Scientologist actress Kelly Preston has been a major endorser of the book. [1] [2]

Contents

[edit] Purification Rundown

Main article: Purification Rundown

The book mainly deals with Hubbard's Purification Rundown, which consists of a "combination of exercise, vitamins, nutrition and sauna use," which purportedly "dislodges drug residues and other toxins from the fatty tissues so that these substances can then be eliminated from the body." [3] While it is heavily promoted as a health regimen within Scientology, and in Scientology's rehabilitation program Narconon, the procedure is viewed as dangerous by most medical professionals, as it calls for saunas and vitamins far in excess of what medical professionals consider safe levels.[4]

The program was originally touted by Hubbard in the 1950s as a way of "curing" radiation burns and giving humans immunity against nuclear radioactivity. These pseudoscientific claims were later minimized by the Church of Scientology, and ultimately erased from books like All About Radiation after Hubbard's death.

[edit] Medical claims

Main article: Medical claims in Scientology doctrine

Hubbard claims to have been the discoverer of the "acid flashback" phenomenon, in which LSD is said to lodge itself in tissues and re-enter the bloodstream years later. He claims to have made this discovery "In the 1970s, working with cases of individuals who had been drug users". (pg. 23, 1990 hardcover edition)

Scientology's official website says of the book:

"Pesticides, solar radiation, drug and environmental toxins have become increasingly pervasive in today’s society. They damage not just your health, but your personality and your ability to think clearly. Clear Body, Clear Mind -'The Effective Purification Program', by L. Ron Hubbard, details his groundbreaking discoveries in this field. Discover the world’s only all-natural, proven program to eliminate drug and toxic residues lodged in the fatty tissues of your body. Over 250,000 have done this program with spectacular success." [3]

Sources for the Church's claims of "Over 250,000" spectacular successes are not given.

In an article by investigative journalists Lari Bishop and Sarah Hughes, it was reported:

"The church supplied us a report entitled "Summaries of Published Papers Regarding the Hubbard Detoxification Method." But of the seven journal articles listed, three were co-authored by Megan Shields, a doctor who wrote the introduction to Clear Body Clear Mind and has close ties to the church.

Another cited article did not show up on two major indexes of medical journals which we examined. MedLine, an on-line database, draws from 3,500 of the most important medical journals, and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory contains information on 165,000 serials published throughout the world. The three other journal entries on the church's list did not appear on MedLine, but were listed in Ulrich's." [4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bridge Publications official website [1]
  2. ^ Church of Scientology official site[2]
  3. ^ What is the Purification Program?. Basic Facts About the Scientology Religion. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.
  4. ^ Narconon detoxification, a critical view

[edit] References

[edit] External links