Synanon Philosophy and Prayer

Moriah Ponder

May 4, 2016

Professor Delaporte

Blog #3

Synanon: The Philosophy and Prayer

Synanon was founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles Dederich. Dederich was an alcoholic and was inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous and their methods. He decided to create Synanon as a place for addicts and individuals with character disorders to recover and get their lives established to re-enter society. Synanon was founded in California as a non-profit corporation. Eventually in 1968, Synanon opened their membership up to non-addicts. During this time, Synanon slowly changed their beliefs from a religious organization to a cult.

While living in Synanon members had to live by the Synanon Philosophy and Prayer. The Synanon Philosophy is a short, 265 word document that was written in October 1958 by Charles E. Dederich. This document is filled with the ideologies of Charles Dederich and was given to every member who joined Synanon. The philosophy contains ideas from Eastern Religious philosophies such as Buddhism and Taoism, especially in regards to the laws of Karma. The ideas in the philosophy, such as individualism and self- determination, were borrowed from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays and the Transcendentalism movement of the early 19^th century. All members, new and old, read Emerson’s essay entitled “Self-Reliance”.  Humanistic Psychology was an idea talked about several times by American Psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow had a major impact on the beliefs and ideology of Synanon.

Many of Charles Dederichs ideas and philosophies came from when he was a member Alcoholics Anonymous. At one point, Charles Dederich signed up for an experiment with LSD. He says, "Taking LSD lead me to a different reality and generated many new insights" (Rise and Fall of Synanon) and although Dederich did not advocate the use of LSD for members enrolled in Synanon, the organization "entertained the possibility of controlled experiments" for therapeutic purposes to "increase levels of moral judgment" (Rise and Fall of Synanon, pg. 36).

Charles E. Dederich was the “wise and compassionate social scientist” (Patton, 1) who could tame, nurture, and train the dope fiend. Dederich believed Synanon was the place of development which could bring the dope fiend to civilization. In the 1960’s, there were no rehabilitation centers that focused on helping addicts get cleaned up and re-enter society. Many addicts would be committed to state hospitals where they would not get the help that was needed. Synanon has always been heavily influenced and committed to philosophical ideas. Synanon had what they called a “Noon Seminar”. This was when they would pick a philosophical concept and members would discus and debate their thoughts and opinions. Everyone would have a chance to offer their input or discuss disagreements with differing perspectives. Each Noon Seminar would end with a “capper” or “a kind of flip summary statement which placed everything in perspective and let it be known that none of us took any of it too seriously” (Patton, 5). Members would also read various other famous philosophers to establish their own philosophy of life. there were only a few who deeply influenced the Synanon philosophy, including, Kahlil Gibran a Lebanese-American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson (who was Chuck’s favorite), Balthazar Gracian a 17th century Jesuit monk, Abraham Maslow the American psychologist, and Sigmund Freud the father of psychoanalysis. They read philosophical works over and over, each time re-evaluating what they believed was being said and more often than not, changing their ideas about the writers thoughts.

There were two ideas at the core of Synanon Philosophy. The first was The Notion of “Act As If” which can be described as the choice and action of using ones free will to overcome their character flaws and "deeply ingrained behavior patterns" (Patton, 10).
“Practice the Form to Achieve the Essence”
The second idea was in the concept of compensation. This idea was originally explained in Emerson's essay titled, Compensation, written in..... Seemingly a karmic view on action and consequences, the concept (Eastern Philosophy) Faith and Trust you will always be compensated
Line of Dichotomies (Maslow)
Pure Reality = Above the Line
State of Nirvana and Enlightenment
Everything is Everything
Life as we know it = Below the Line

Contradictions like Good and Evil
Must learn to live above and below the line when appropriate
T- Bar = Line Above the Line
“when philosophy becomes theoretical, or worse, sentimental” Tom Patton (1973)

            Synanon wanted their members to gain the element of religiosity and were encouraged to seek a spiritual connection with a higher power just like members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Change and transcendence to a certain level of self-realization was a large part of the Synanon philosophy. The prayer was said at the beginning of meetings to help members prepare for their group encounters and open themselves to different perspectives. Known as, The Synanon Prayer, it was written in the same vein as the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: 

“Please let me first and always examine myself…Let me be honest and truthful…Let me seek and assume responsibility…Let me understand rather than be understood…Let me trust and have faith in myself and my fellowman…Let me love rather than be loved…Let me give rather than receive.”

Members of Synanon lived by the philosophy and prayer. It was part of their daily lives. Charles Dederich believed whole heartedly in everything he wanted his members to believe in as well.

Learning about Synanon has opened up my eyes to cults. I honestly didn’t think I would have any interest doing this research, but I have gained a new interest in it.

Patton, Tom. “The Synanon Philosophy.” Synanon University Press. San Francisco, CA 1974.

Janzen, R. A. (2001). The rise and fall of Synanon: A California utopia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.