Bringing Solace and Help in the Aftermath of a Violent Act of Terror

How teams of volunteers throughout Germany armed with a booklet called ’The Way to Happiness’ brought closure and calm to their communities in the wake of acts of violence

In July 2016, an armed shooter killed nine and injured 16, leaving Munich reeling. A team of volunteers from The Way to Happiness Association sponsored by the Church of Scientology of Munich literally took matters into their own hands. They began giving copies of The Way to Happiness to people one-on-one, beginning with those living or working in the district where the shootings took place. 

 

July 2016 also saw terrorist attacks in Ansbach and Wuerzburg, and in December another in Berlin. The movement to share The Way to Happiness quickly spread throughout the country, adopted by other Scientology Churches and their The Way to Happiness groups.

The Way to Happiness is a common-sense guide to better living written by author, humanitarian, and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Its 21 precepts provide a roadmap to a better, kinder, happier way of life. These volunteers turned to the booklet, knowing it has been used to bring calm to entire regions in turbulent times. 

Wherever they went, volunteers kept copies of the booklet with them in many different languages. Whether riding in a subway or tram, or stopping for a coffee, they shared the booklet with those they met. Following the directions in the first pages of the book, they contacted people, handed each a booklet with their own name written on the cover, and gave them a copy to read and others to hand to those they knew who could also benefit from reading it.

Hundreds of thousands of booklets have since been passed hand to hand in Germany. 

A sampling of the stories they heard from those they reached out to with The Way to Happiness illustrates the power of this activity.

A volunteer handed a booklet to a woman who was on her way to visit friends in Switzerland. On her return to Munich, the woman told him that when she arrived, her friend “was very sad, her self-confidence was gone. She was really depressed. Then I read to her from the booklet. ’This booklet was meant especially for me,’” my friend told me.” By the end of the visit, the friend was no longer hopeless. When she cried now, it was from happiness, in appreciation of what her friend had shared with her.

A volunteer received a letter from a person he’d give the booklet to. “I was very surprised by the content of the booklet as I had never read so much wisdom with such remarkable clarity,” the man wrote. He asked the volunteer for 10 copies in German and Polish and five in English so he could pass them on to his friends.

“I wanted to give the booklet to a young man,” said one of the volunteers, “but he told me ‘You gave that to me before.’ I asked, ‘What did you like best?’ and he was beaming when he answered ‘That you don’t have to worry if you play by the rules.’”

Another told the volunteer that he has his booklet at home and he reads it again and again to refresh himself on the concepts and apply them. He described what he learned from The Way to Happiness as “essential.” 

A woman wanted to help a friend who had given up after years of battling cancer. She gave The Way to Happiness to her friend, who paid her a surprise visit a few days later, her entire appearance changed. “This is the most beautiful book,” the friend told her. “I totally changed my viewpoint. I decided to survive!”

A security officer at a shopping mall in Stuttgart told the volunteer that thefts in the mall had declined since they began distributing The Way to Happiness in the area.

In the first chapter of the booklet, Mr. Hubbard writes:

True joy and happiness are valuable.

If one does not survive, no joy and no happiness are obtainable.

Trying to survive in a chaotic, dishonest and generally immoral society is difficult.

Any individual or group seeks to obtain from life what pleasure and freedom from pain that they can….

Without too much trouble, using this book, you can help them survive and lead happier lives.

While no one can guarantee that anyone else can be happy, their chances of survival and happiness can be improved. And with theirs, yours will be.

It is in your power to point the way to a less dangerous and happier life.

Pass it on!

For more information, visit The Way to Happiness Foundation website to read the full text of the booklet online. Watch The Way to Happiness book on film on the Scientology Network. Or visit the nearest Scientology Church to open or become a volunteer of a local The Way to Happiness group.