Sybok: Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.

Kirk: Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain!

This has always reminded me of scientologists who talk of freeing themselves of their reactive mind.  It is my belief that every experience we have, every memory, every event (even if we do not actually remember it) is part of who we are — to "free" ourselves of it is to dismiss our experience and invalidate who we are.  We are who we are because of what we have experienced — painful experiences teach us something about who we are — tragedies happen — loss happens — should I abandon who I am for some flaky philosophy that says free yourself from your reactive mind. What would I become?  An empty shell of who I was — and all that pain and experience will still be there regardless of how many hours I spend auditing.  It is who I am — how I came to be — you cannot "free" yourself from that.  You can change how you react to things but you cannot free yourself — there is no such thing as a state of clear — or OT. We are who we are because of what we have experienced. [...]»