THERE ARE many people in the United States today who seek to develop a scientific approach to mental health. These are the people who are appalled at the futility, if not the evil, of Western psychotherapy, who admire the way Freud approached the human mind but not the results of his study. Although R. D. Laing is the current figure who represents this trend in the academic community, less esoteric and less controversial figures have developed their own theories in the past several decades. Harvard Square, the homing ground for religious drug use, yoga, mysticism, hypnosis, and the occult sciences, appears to be a vital area for those concerned with the ideal union of humanitarian philosophy and scientific technology.

You've already seen people in the Square handing out invitations to free lectures on Dianetics and Scientology. Dianetics is the forerunner of Scientology, a study of the mind which supposedly can free one of all conflicts and psychosomatic illnesses. Scientology is the philosophy, or rather the cosmology, formulated for the multitudes of new beings cleared by Dianetics procession. Both systems are the product of the mind of one "man," L. Ron Hubbard.

My interest in this cult began after a close friend of mine became disturbingly fanatic about it and began spewing forth a most incredible stream of theories and arcane terminology. All of which are purportedly based upon painstaking "scientific" research. "Thus, along with science, Scientology can achieve positive invariable results," writes L. Ron Hubbard. "Scientology can change intelligence upward at the rate of one point per hour." Hubbard continues, "The amount of benefit to be gained from Dianetics exceeded anything that Man had ever been able to do for anybody in the history of the human race." Finally, "Scientology is the most vital movement on Earth today."

These claims struck me as extravagant. I realized that L. Ron Hubbard must be either an extraordinary scientist or a flaming charlatan. Let me say now that I lean toward the latter view; but nevertheless, the L. Ron Hubbard trip is both a fantastic personal story and a sobering barometer of our society's fragmentation. For a person must have a desperate sense of alienation and powerlessness to subordinate himself to such an ultra chauvinist, pyramidal organization, such an elitist hierarchy with Hubbard at the summit.

"Probably no philosopher of modern times has had the popularity and appeal of Hubbard or such startling successes within his own lifetime. And Mankind has had no better friend." So ends the standard short biography of Hubbard found in nearly every Scientology publication. Large photographs of the Founder are hung in most Scientology centers. Hubbard divides his time today between a mansion in England and a ship in the Mediterranean, where he is supposedly conducting research. There is reason to believe that he is also making a fortune out of his mushrooming empire-it was reported in the Aug. 23, 1968 issue of Time that he has deposited over $7 million in numbered Swiss bank accounts.

Other interesting data from the official biography: "Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska, March 13, 1911, the only child of Commander H. R. Hubbard, U. S. N., and Dora May Hubbard. He studied Science and Mathematics at George Washington, graduated from Colombian College. He attended Princeton University . . . He wrote and published over 15 million words. . . before WWH. During that war, he served as a commander of corvettes and was extensively decorated. Crippled and blind at the end of the war, he resumed his studies of philosophy and by his discoveries recovered so fully that he was reclassified in 1949 for full combat duty. It is a matter of medical record that he has twice been pronounced dead and that in 1950 he was given a perfect score on mental and physical fitness reports. . . Hubbard has a lovely wife, Mary Sue, and four charming children."

There are several distortions in the official information which deserve comment. Lafayette Ronald Hubbard never graduated from either George Washington or Colombian College. He attended George Washington from Sept. 1930 to May 1932, but received no degrees. He never even officially enrolled in Colombian College. He did attend Princeton, as a Navy Lieutenant during World War II-the only course he took, though, was a three-month Military Government course. Hubbard claims to be a nuclear physicist, but the closest he came in the academic world was the George Washington School of Engineering. He also claims to have a Ph. D. in Philosophy, awarded from a school called Sequoia in California. All clues indicate that Sequoia was the name of the Scientology Center in Los Angeles in the middle 50's, and that Hubbard awarded himself the degree. (Sequoia is not accredited by the state of California. Among its faculty, listed as Professor of Scientology, was L. Ron Hubbard.) Lastly, L. Ron's happy marriage is his third; the first two ended in divorce. His second wife charged that he subjected her to "beatings and torture" and she said that a psychiatrist had told her that Hubbard suffered from "paranoid schizophrenia." Hubbard countered, charging her with "gross neglect of duty" and he won a divorce from her.

In 1950, he published Dianctics-The Modern Science of Mental Health, which stayed on the N. Y. Times bestseller list for six months. For Scientologists, the year 1970 is A. D. 20 (After Dianetics). In this book, he outlined the essential details of Dianetics processing-called auditing-along with a hint of the collaborate levels of spiritual existence attainable, levels which have been developed more fully in Scientology. (And are still being developed-Hubbard continues announcing new levels every so often.)

To fully appreciate the tenor of Hubbard's writings, we must remember that he is a former science fiction writer. His effort to legitimize his teachings by alluding to "scientific research" is typical of his whole approach: in this age of technology, people will automatically accept authoritative statements, supplemented by an extensive vocabulary of terms with a sci-fi flavor. There is even a Scientology abridged dictionary.

Hubbard began this theory with a few fundamental concepts. The goal of Diabetics is to go clear, that is , to be completely free of subconscious memories and thus to be at cause (self-determined) over one's environment. You see, the human mind has two parts, each with their respective memory banks: the analytical mind and the reactive mind. The former is rational (in fact, Hubbard compares it to a perfect computer); the latter is subconscious, operating solely on a stimulus-response basis. It records engrams, or painful memories, which are subject to constant re-stimulation. These engross carry an electrical charge, which is removed by the auditing process. An essential fixture of auditing is the E-meter, a crude form of lie detector with two tin cans, attached by wires to a meter. The pre-clear holds the cans in his hands and the meter measures electrical resistance, based supposedly upon the charge of certain memories, but in fact based simply on galvanic skin response (how tightly one squeezes, sweating, etc.) The auditor skillfully guides the pre-clear through various traumatic memories until their charge is blown off and all anxiety is removed. There are six grades of release before one reaches Clear. Becoming a Clear is quite an accomplishment; there are only some 2500 Clears in the world. Moreover, it costs a minimum of $4,000 to reach Clear.

The Dec. 1968 issue of Today's Health contained an article about a man who had spent $28,000 on Diabetics and was still not Clear. Obviously, the real or imagined dividends of processing are made highly desirable; one is forced to marvel at the confidence Hubbard inspires. Consider his description of being a Clear: "Compared to a homo-sapiens, homo novice is very high and god-like." But, "compared to a truly self-determined being, homo novis is an ant ready to die under anybody's misstep." Ah, so Clear is only a beginning. After Clear, one begins work on becoming an Operating Thetan. Of course there are six or seven levels of O. T.'s, too.

AFTER Dianctics became a surprise best seller in 1950, Hubbard set up Dianctics centers in several cities. Determining the status of Dianctics and Scientology as either a religion or a business enterprise has been a perpetual problem for the U. S. Government. In the beginning, practitioners were called "ministers" and were or-damned to perform weddings and funerals. For a time, some Scientology centers did receive some tax-exemption, although none do now. However, there is a court case pending between Scientology and the Internal Revenue Service, over the issue of back taxes. It appears that Scientology will continue to enjoy the status of a religion, but it is unlikely that it will be tax-exempt since it definitely isn't a non-profit organization.

In 1956, there was a disgraceful episode involving bogus medicine. A case of transparent quackery, Dianetics organizations were marketing a "Special Anti-Radiation Compound" (also good for incipient cancer) at the height of the A-bomb scare of the 50's. The tablets, called Dianazene, were seized by the Food and Drug Administration and found to contain only vitamins and minerals-certainly not a sufficient defense against cancer or radioactivity. Apparently, however, little came of the affair and Dianazene hasn't been heard of again.

In 1963, the F. D. A seized 100 E-meters, and brought legal action against Dianetics for "false and misleading claims." After a long case, the E-meter was found guilty in 1967. But in Feb. 1969 a Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, ruling that the E-meter was an integral part of the cult's religious practices. On the basis of that decision, Scientology has established itself as a bona-fide religion. However, advertisements for the E-meter now include a note in fine print saying, "The E-meter is not intended or effective for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease." Yet Hubbard's writings still manage to imply miracle cures: "You use Dianetics much the way you would use any remedy. When a fellow is burned, you audit out the burn. When a woman loses a loved one, you audit out the loss." Even germ-based diseases such as tuberculosis are said to respond to auditing.

Hubbard's organization wasn't treated so well in other countries. England refused for a while to admit foreigners coming for upper-level courses. South Africa and Rhodesia refused to admit Hubbard. The state of Victoria, Australia, has outlawed Scientology altogether. Further investigations are pending in New Zealand and England.