Scientology Volunteer Ministers Train Kolkata Nursing Students

To "nurse" means, "to bring up; to raise, by care, from a weak or invalid condition; to foster; to cherish." Nursing is clearly a profession dedicated to helping people, and one very deserving of assistance.

And students at a nursing college in Kolkata got the help they needed this week at a seminar in Scientology Assist technology from the Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) of West Bengal, held in coordination with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour.

The VMs provided the lectures in Bengali, the language native to the region, to 41 students at the nursing school. The nurses realized that their basic attitude toward patient care had been colored by their lack of skill in handling the spiritual aspects of illness and injury. They simply didn't know how to address these factors. And without this skill, surrounded by so much suffering, they had resigned themselves to the idea that in many cases, nothing could be done about it.

The motto of the Volunteer Ministers is exactly the opposite—Something CAN be done about it. But this is only true because of the technology developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard. For example, one of the subjects in which Volunteer Ministers are trained is Scientology assists: simple procedures that address the emotional and spiritual side of the trauma, illness or injury.

The Touch Assist is the most widely used and probably best-known assist. It was first developed in the early 1950s and has been in use ever since. As described in the Scientology Handbook, "The purpose of a Touch Assist is to reestablish communication with injured or ill body parts....The technique is based on the principle that the way to heal anything or remedy anything is to put somebody into communication with it."

The nursing students were also taught to use the Locational Processing Assist. A Locational is done by directing a person's attention off the painful area of his body or difficulties and out onto the environment. When someone's attention is fixated, whether on a physical problem, an upset, a loss, or any number of emotional difficulties, a Locational Assist can help unstick attention, leaving him or her extroverted, in good spirits and more able to solve the problem.

L. Ron Hubbards described the qualities of a Volunteer Minister in an essay titled Religious Influence in Society: "A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."

The nursing students were delighted with their seminar. They understand now why Mr. Hubbard described VMs in these terms, because in the three short hours it had taken, they gained tools they can use immediately to really make a difference to the patients in their care.