The Advanced Ability Center was a breakaway organization from the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

established by former Scientologist David Mayo after he left the Church in February 1983, a time when most of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

's upper and middle management was removed following the formation of the Religious Technology Center (RTC) and RTC head

David Miscavige David Miscavige (; born April 30, 1960) is an American Scientologist who is serving as the second and current leader of the Church of Scientology. His official title within the organization is Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology ...

's restructuring of the church. David Mayo had been Hubbard's own

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

. The Advanced Ability Center later became the Theta International movement and was also known as the Church of the New Civilization. Mayo taught material from the upper part of The Bridge of the Scientology organization in the Advanced Ability Center. A division of the Advanced Ability Center was closed down again in 1984 under pressure from the main organization. According to ''Perspectives on the New Age'' edited by James R. Lewis and

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the I ...

and published in 1992, the Advanced Ability Center formed in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

was in competition with the Scientology organization in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

David Mayo

Mayo joined Scientology in 1957 as a staff member, and joined the

Sea Org The Sea Organization or Sea Org is the senior-most status of staff within the Church of Scientology network of corporations, but is not itself incorporated. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sea Org was started as L. Ron Hubbard's private navy, and ...

in 1968. He trained with

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

up to the level of Class XII auditor and worked with Hubbard on the OT levels 5 to 7. Mayo had been L. Ron Hubbard's auditor and rose to the position of Senior Case Supervisor International in the Church of Scientology. He was ousted during

's struggle for power, declared suppressive and sentenced to the " running program" (physical punishment) in 1982. Mayo escaped and founded the Advanced Ability Center. Religious Technology Center sued Mayo in Los Angeles federal court claiming intellectual property infringement, filed a

RICO The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was ...

suit, and started an extensive harassment campaign against him and AAC. Mayo countersued, and RTC was sanctioned millions of dollars. In 1985, Scientology successfully enjoined Mayo from selling Scientology services and AAC was bankrupted and closed by 1986.

References

Free Zone (Scientology) Scientology {{Scientology-stub

David Mayo

See also

References