On board ship for the next seven years, he again traveled extensively, while devoting his attention to ever-worsening problems facing society through the late 1960s and early 1970s. Of special note from this period is the drug rehabilitation program he developed, recognized today by government studies around the world as the most effective in existence. It was also during this period that he developed the highest levels of Scientology, refinements of application, new administrative principles, and advances in the field of logic-all of which are explained later in this site.
Returning to shore in 1975, Ron continued his travels-first from Florida to Washington, DC and Los Angeles before finally settling in the southern California desert community of La Quinta near Palm Springs, his home until 1979. There, searching for new ways to make Dianetics and Scientology more easily accessible, he wrote dozens of training films on the subjects to visually demonstrate proper application of technical principles. He directed many of these films himself.
Long concerned with accelerating social decay, Mr. Hubbard wrote a nonreligious moral code based on common sense in 1980. Published in booklet form, it is entitled The Way to Happiness. In explanation of this work, L. Ron Hubbard said, “Reading the papers and wandering around in the society, it was pretty obvious that honesty and truth were not being held up to the standards they once had. People and even little kids in schools have gotten the idea that high moral standards are a thing of the past. Man has in his hands today a lot of violent weapons. He doesn’t have the moral standards to go with them.”
Loudly applauded by community and civic groups around the world, The Way to Happiness spread across the planet. An entire grass-roots movement formed to disseminate and use the booklet to uplift the decency and integrity of man. To date, 35 million copies have been distributed with millions more being demanded each year.
Returning to his more serious work with continued research into man’s spiritual potentials, Mr. Hubbard traveled extensively through California in the early 1980s. In 1983, he finally resided in the town of Creston, near San Luis Obispo. Here he completed his research and finalized the Scientology technical materials he had spent most of his life developing.
Today, those materials are recorded in the tens of millions of words on the subject of the human spirit which comprise Dianetics and Scientology philosophy. The over 25 million words of his lectures-just those that are on tape-are enough to fill over 100 volumes of text.
In fact, it may well be that L. Ron Hubbard’s works include more literature, recorded research and materials than any other single subject of philosophy, the spirit or religion. All of these materials are available to anyone who desires an improvement in his life. Well over 100 million of his books are in circulation today.
Having fully completed his research and seen its broad application expand to six continents and over 60 countries around the world, improving the lives of millions of people, L. Ron Hubbard departed this life on January 24, 1986. Instead of an end, however, it marked the beginning of an unprecedented expansion of Scientology around the world, as more and more people continue to benefit from his technologies.
As just one indication of Mr. Hubbard’s continued popularity, fully 38 years after its initial publication, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health achieved the unheard of, returning to the top of the New York Times bestseller list in 1988. It still rides on bestseller lists around the world to this day and has thus far sold 15 million copies.
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