Dianetics

In Scientology, Dianetics is put forward as a methodology to alleviate unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses. Developed by L. Ron Hubbard in the late 1940s, Dianetics was coined from the Greek words dia, meaning "through" and nous, meaning "soul". Hubbard's interpretation is "what the soul is doing to the body."

Dianetics in Scientology

Dianetics presents itself as a systemic method of identifying the causes of and relieving many of an individual's mental, emotional or (psychosomatically) physical problems. Fundamental to the system is the concept of the engram, which is defined in Dianetics (as opposed to how it was defined by Karl S. Lashley, the inventor of the term) as "a moment of unconsciousness containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions." Engrams contain all of the experience of being unconscious but are not usually available to the conscious mind.

Related Topics:
Engram - Karl S. Lashley - Unconsciousness

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hubbard in Dianetics states: " ... an organized science of thought built on definite axioms: statements of natural laws on the order of those of the physical sciences".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The beginnings of Scientology

In 1951 other books by Hubbard followed, addressing the subject of Dianetics: Self Analysis, Science of Survival, Notes on the Lectures of L. Ron Hubbard, Advanced Procedure and Axioms and Child Dianetics, then in 1954, Dianetics 55! and in 1955 ' was published.

Related Topics:
1951 - Self Analysis - Science of Survival - Notes on the Lectures of L. Ron Hubbard - Advanced Procedure and Axioms - Child Dianetics - 1954 - Dianetics 55! - 1955

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dianetics provided the seed from which the philosophical framework of Scientology grew. Scientologists refer to the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health as "Book One". Hubbard himself regarded its publication as such an important event that he created his own calendar based on the publication date of Dianetics, dating his Scientology writings from that time. For instance, Hubbard uses "A.D. 13" to mean 1963 – literally "year 13 After Dianetics".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1952, based on past-life experiences that had been reported in Dianetics auditing, Hubbard published a new set of teachings as "Scientology, a religious philosophy". The stated goal of Scientology is to fully rehabilitate the spiritual nature of an individual, including rehabilitating all abilities and realizing one's full potential. By contrast, the goal of Dianetics is to rid the individual of his reactive mind and become "Clear".

Related Topics:
1952 - Past-life experience - Religious philosophy - "Clear"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most Scientologists today regard the original Dianetics techniques as valid, and view Dianetics as an introduction to Scientology. As of 2001, the Church of Scientology continued to run television advertisements promoting Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Time Magazine, in 1991, reported that the Church asked its members to purchase large quantities of the DMSMH book with their own money, or with money supplied by the Church, for the sole purpose of keeping the book on the New York Times bestseller list.

Related Topics:
2001 - Church of Scientology - Television - Advertisements - Time Magazine - 1991 - New York Times bestseller list

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health

Dianetics was presented as a complete system of published self-improvement techniques in the book ' (DMSMH ISBN 1403105464), a comprehensive work detailing Hubbard's discoveries and techniques. The book was officially published May 9, 1950. It caught the public imagination and became a nationwide best-seller. Due to the interest generated, a multitude of "Dianetics clubs" and similar organizations were formed for the purpose of applying Dianetics techniques. Hubbard himself established a nationwide network of Dianetics Foundations, offering Dianetics training and processing for a fee.

Related Topics:
Self-improvement technique - May 9 - 1950 - Best-seller

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the book, Hubbard covers his isolation of the dynamic principle of existence and provides his description of the human mind. He states the source of all human aberration is the reactive mind and its engrams. He then developed counseling (auditing) techniques for getting rid of engrams. This is still the technique used by Dianetics-trained counselors today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

L. Ron Hubbard stated:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Acknowledgment is made to fifty thousand years of thinking men without whose speculations and observations the creation and construction of Dianetics would not have been possible. Credit in particular is due to:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Anaxagoras, Thomas Paine, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, René Descartes, Plato, James Clerk Maxwell, Euclid, Charcot, Lucretius, Herbert Spencer, Roger Bacon, William James, Francis Bacon, Sigmund Freud, Isaac Newton, van Leeuwenhoek, Cmdr. Joseph Thompson (MC) USN, William A. White, Voltaire, Will Durant, Count Alfred Korzybski, and my instructors in atomic and molecular phenomena, mathematics and the humanities at George Washington University and at Princeton.

Related Topics:
Anaxagoras - Thomas Paine - Aristotle - Thomas Jefferson - Socrates - René Descartes - Plato - James Clerk Maxwell - Euclid - Charcot - Lucretius - Herbert Spencer - Roger Bacon - William James - Francis Bacon - Sigmund Freud - Isaac Newton - Van Leeuwenhoek - William A. White - Voltaire - Will Durant - Alfred Korzybski - George Washington University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The volcano on post-1968 editions of Dianetics is commonly conjectured to be a reference to the story of Xenu, the tyrannical leader of the Galactic Confederacy who brought billions of people to Earth 75 million years ago and murdered them by stacking them around volcanoes which he blew up with hydrogen bombs. According to Hubbard, "Man responds to an exploding volcano." ("Assists", lecture of 3 October 1968)

Related Topics:
Volcano - 1968 - Xenu - Galactic Confederacy - Hydrogen bomb - 3 October

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

History

The Church of Scientology claims Hubbard's first manuscript on his study of the mind, Excalibur, was written in 1938, but never published.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He first mentioned the subject of the mind, referred to as "Terra Incognita" in a series of articles in Astounding Science Fiction magazine during the 1940s.

Related Topics:
''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine - 1940s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1948 Hubbard wrote a thesis later published as The Dynamics of Life that summarized his research and delineated the principles he discovered. He continued to further develop and test a new technology of the mind, which he called "Dianetics."

Related Topics:
1948 - The Dynamics of Life

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After initially promoting the techniques as a system for curing some forms of mental and psychosomatic illness, Dianetics advocates later disclaimed any therapeutic benefits in order to avoid regulation.

Related Topics:
Mental - Psychosomatic illness

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~