Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s Birthday Celebrated Internationally
- By Ben Davis --
- 07 Mar 2017 --
The extraordinary life of L. Ron Hubbard is celebrated each year on his birthday, March 13.
Each year, thousands of Scientologists and their guests from some 50 nations gather in Clearwater, Florida to celebrate the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard at the spiritual headquarters of the Scientology religion. The event, translated into 17 languages, is then screened in Scientology Missions and Churches around the world.
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s Birthday Celebrated Internationally[/tweetthis]
Mr. Hubbard was born on March 13, 1911. and Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard cannot be so simply categorized—his life was too varied, his influence too broad. There are tribes in Southern Africa who know Mr. Hubbard only for his educational discoveries; factory workers across Eastern Europe know him for his administrative discoveries; children in Southeast Asia know him as the author of The Way To Happiness, the moral code they have adopted. Avid fans know him for his novels. And of course there are the millions who hold his works in Scientology as the spiritual cornerstone of their lives.
In 1982, L. Ron Hubbard announced a yearlong international game in which every Scientology Church and Mission competes. It is based on Ron’s birthday wish—that each expand their service to their congregations and communities. The year’s winners will be flown to Clearwater to accept their awards.
The annual celebration features stories and anecdotes from Mr. Hubbard’s extraordinary life, related by his biographer Mr. Danny Sherman and drawn from the pages of LRH’s letters and diaries, with vignettes from his recorded lectures.
Mr. Hubbard was not only an accomplished and influential humanitarian, he was also an expert aviator, mariner, musician, photographer, filmmaker, horticultural researcher and poet.
As the son of a U.S. Naval Officer, from an early age, L. Ron Hubbard lived a life of adventure. At age six, he was honored by being invited to become a blood brother of the indigenous Blackfeet Indians of Helena, Montana. At 12, he received his first introduction to the human mind from a family friend who had studied with Sigmund Freud. At 13, he became the nation’s youngest Eagle Scout and he served in the Montana National Guard’s 163rd Infantry at 16, where he distinguished himself as a marksman. That year, he also edited his high school newspaper.
By 19, he had traveled over a quarter of a million miles, interacting intimately with various cultures and strata of society in Guam, Japan, and China.
Mr. Hubbard went on to study engineering and molecular physics at George Washington University, where he engaged in experimentation to isolate a postulated life force at the root of human consciousness. While in college he also gained renown as a daredevil glider pilot and Midwest barnstormer.
To fund his continuing philosophic research, in the 1930s Mr. Hubbard began his writing career. He drew his plots and characters from his extensive firsthand adventures, becoming one of the most prolific and best-loved authors of the Pulp Fiction era, authoring mysteries, westerns, aerial thrillers, high-seas adventures, science fiction and even the occasional romance.
By 1941, when he was commissioned as a lieutenant of the United States Navy Reserve, he had been admitted to the prestigious Explorers Club and earned licenses as Master of Steam and Motor Vessels and Master of Sail Vessels for Any Ocean.
During World War II Mr. Hubbard served in Australia and commanded a convoy escort vessel in the Atlantic and a subchaser in the Pacific. Recuperating from injuries at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital he employed his earliest Dianetics techniques to former prisoners of war who were unable to assimilate food. Despite the application of all known medical procedures, these soldiers were essentially starving to death. But once he removed their “mental blocks,” the medical treatments began to work and they all recovered.
The years following the war were filled with his continued research and refinement of Dianetics methods. He worked as a lay practitioner with some 350 cases drawn from convalescent homes, probation departments, a Georgia State orphanage and mental wards. He also studied criminality firsthand as a Special Officer of the Los Angeles Police Department.
In 1950, Mr. Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. It soon hit the New York Times bestseller list, where it remained for 28 consecutive weeks, inspiring newspaper headlines calling it “The fastest-growing movement in America.”
As he continued his research he soon found himself addressing Mankind’s spirituality and the Scientology religion was born.
Today, Mr. Hubbard’s materials on Dianetics and Scientology include three encyclopedic series and nearly 2,500 recorded lectures. All told, his philosophic contribution represents more than 75 million written and recorded words. These materials constitute the largest single body of work on the human mind and spirit. He has also been acknowledged by Guinness World Records as Most Published Author, Most Translated Author and Author with Most Audio Books.
For more information on the life and works of L. Ron Hubbard, visit www.lronhubbard.org.
Resources
RELATED NEWS
