Scientology

Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals, originally established as an alternative psychotherapy in 1951 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, then recharacterized by him in 1953 as an "applied religious philosophy."

Beliefs and practices

Main article: Scientology beliefs and practices

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Scientology's doctrines were established by Hubbard over some 33 years from 1952 until his death in January 1986. Most of the basic principles were set out during the 1950s and 1960s.

Related Topics:
1952 - 1986 - 1950s - 1960s

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Scientology was expanded and reworked from Dianetics http://www.neuereligion.de/ENG/Wolf/pg6.htm, an earlier system of self-improvement techniques set out by Hubbard in the 1950 book, . By the mid-1950s, Hubbard had relegated Dianetics to a sub-study of Scientology. The chief difference between the two is that Dianetics is focused on the individual's present life and dealing with physical and mental or emotional problems. Dianetics teaches that most problems in a person's life are caused by reactions to past trauma. Scientology adopts a more overtly religious approach http://victorian.fortunecity.com/finsbury/124/last.htm dealing with spiritual issues spanning from multiple past lives as well as the present day. Scientology also covers topics such as ethics and morality (The Way to Happiness), physical health as it relates to spiritual well being (Purification Rundown), communication, marriage, raising children, dealing with work-related problems, study technology, and the very nature of life (The Dynamics of existence).

Related Topics:
Dianetics - Self-improvement technique - 1950 - 1950s - The Way to Happiness - Purification Rundown - Study technology - The Dynamics of existence

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Scientology beliefs are structured in a series of levels leading to the more advanced strata of esoteric knowledge. This is described as the passage up "the Bridge to Total Freedom," or simply "the Bridge." The more advanced teachings are kept strictly confidential from new initiates, who are not sufficiently "spiritually prepared" to learn about them. The model is similar to that of the degrees of Freemasonry.

Related Topics:
Esoteric knowledge - Freemasonry

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Central beliefs

The central beliefs of Scientology are:

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• a person is an immortal spiritual being (termed a thetan) who possesses a mind and a body, accompanied by a lesser "genetic entity";
• the thetan has lived through many past lives, stored memories of which can cause problems in the present day;
• a person is basically good, but is "aberrated" by the memories of traumas.
• Total infallibility of everything Hubbard (Source) has written or spoken.

Scientology claims to offer an exact methodology to help a person achieve spiritual and ethical education, awareness, and improvement, so that he or she may achieve a level of spiritual purity as well as greater effectiveness in the physical world. Methods of clearing are proposed to enable this change. The ultimate goal of Scientology is to "rehabilitate" the thetan, restoring its superhuman abilities to control "matter, energy, space and time" (MEST).

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The structure of the mind

Scientology holds that the human mind consists of two parts: the "analytical mind" and the "reactive mind". Hubbard described the analytical mind as the positive, rational, computing portion, while the "reactive mind" operates on a stimulus-response basis based on pain. Scientologists believe that the reactive mind has a malignant effect, causing irrational behavior and creating individual weaknesses as well as undermining efforts to create lasting, prosperous and sane societies. Past painful incidents are seen as acting as templates for future actions and events, which are often acted out with destructive results. The "analytical mind" and the "reactive mind" have been compared to Freud's superego and id, respectively, although the functionality is not the same.

Related Topics:
Superego - Id

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Auditing

The central practice of Scientology is called "auditing" (from the Latin audire,"to listen"), which is one-on-one communication with a Scientology-trained counselor or "auditor" and can be considered a kind of neurofeedback. The auditor follows an exact sequence of instructions, as set out by Hubbard, to "clear" the reactive mind. Auditing utilizes a biofeedback device known in Scientology as the E-meter (a galvanic skin response measuring device), which reportedly monitors the neural pathways and the nerves of the brain and body of the auditee as influenced by the thetan.

Related Topics:
Latin - Biofeedback - E-meter - Galvanic skin response

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The auditing process is intended to help a person to unburden themselves of specific traumatic incidents, prior ethical transgressions and bad decisions that are said to collectively restrict the person from achieving his goals (the product of which is called the "reactive mind" in Scientology terminology). The auditor asks the auditee to respond to a list of questions which are pre-defined for specific purposes and given to the preclear in a strictly defined manner. As per Church policy, auditors are trained not to "evaluate" their auditees- they are forbidden from suggesting, degrading or invalidating the auditee's answers, however whenever an auditor might have reason to believe that any given answer might be somehow incompatible with the auditing process, the auditor is instructed to repeat the question until a compatible answer is received.

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The Church of Scientology has claimed that auditing can raise IQ, improve memory, alleviate dyslexia and attention deficit problems, and entrain relaxation; however, no widely accepted scientific studies have yet been accomplished which have yet verified any of these claims. Licensed psychotherapists have alleged that the Church of Scientology's auditing sessions amount to the practice of mental health treatment without a license, but the Church of Scientology vehemently disagrees that it is offering mental health treatment and insists instead that it is merely conducting spiritual healing.

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In a manner that is in some ways similar to a psychotherapy session, during the auditing process the auditor may collect personal or confidential material from the person being audited. Unlike the professions of psychology and psychiatry, the Church of Scientology is under little or no legal obligation to strictly retain the confidentiality of any such information. In some instances, former members of the Church of Scientology have made claims that the Church has used information obtained in auditing sessions against them in various ways, but their complaints are generally legally unenforceable.

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The Church has its own unique system of confidentiality practices and policies, which while affording some certain level of confidentiality as defined by the Church, in contrast to the confidentialities of psychology and psychiatry, are not especially mandated by law. Thus legally speaking, the Church has a far wider range of options as to how it may or may not choose to use whatever information it may gain from its members via the auditing process.

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For more details about auditing, see Scientology beliefs and practices#Auditing

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The ARC triangle

Another basic tenet of Scientology is that there are three interrelated (and intrinsically spiritual) components that make up successful "livingness": affinity (emotional response), reality (an agreement on what is real), and communication (exchange of ideas). Hubbard called this the "ARC triangle" (pronounced A. R. C.). Scientologists utilize ARC as a central organizing principle in their lives, primarily based upon the belief that raising one aspect of the triangle increases the level of the other two.

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For details, see ARC (Scientology)

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The Tone Scale

The tone scale in Scientology is a characterization of human mood and behaviour by various positions on a scale. Positions on the tone scale are usually designated by an emotion, but Hubbard also describes many more characteristics of the tone scale levels, e.g. health aspects, dealing with truth, survival potential, or sexual behavior.

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The tone scale is used by Scientologists in everyday life to evaluate people. For Scientologists, the level of the tone scale determines also the value of the person for society. According to Hubbard, one who is sufficiently low on the tone scale "should not have ... any civil rights of any kind" and should be "dispose of ... quietly and without sorrow."

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For details, see Tone scale

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Past lives

In Dianetics, Hubbard proposed that the cause of "aberrations" in the human mind was the accumulated unconscious memories of traumatic incidents and guilty feelings. These memories would date back, in some cases, to before the moment of birth. He extended this view further in Scientology, declaring that thetans have existed for tens of trillions of years. During that time, they have been exposed to vast numbers of traumatic incidents, and have made a great many decisions that influence their present state. According to Scientologists, it is practically impossible and undesirable to recall each and every such event and the streamlining of the process to address only key items was the subject of Hubbard's research for over 30 years.

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Some of the past traumas may have been deliberately inflicted in the form of "implants" used by extraterrestrial dictatorships to brainwash and control people. Scientology doctrine includes a wide variety of beliefs in extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described by Hubbard as "space opera".

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For a detailed overview, see Space opera in Scientology doctrine.

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Operating Thetan levels and the Xenu incident

The "Hidden Truth" about the nature of the universe is taught to the most advanced Scientologists in a series of courses known as the Advanced Levels. These are the levels above "Clear," and their contents are held in strict confidence within Scientology. The most advanced of all are the eight Operating Thetan levels, for which the initiate needs to be thoroughly prepared. The highest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds. Since being entered into evidence in several court cases beginning in the 1980s, synopses and excerpts of these secret teachings have appeared in innumerable publications.

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In the OT levels, Hubbard describes a variety of traumas commonly experienced in past lives. He explains how to reverse the effects of such traumas by "running" various Scientology processes. Among these advanced teachings, one episode that is revealed to those who reach OT level III has been widely remarked upon in the press: the story of Xenu, the galactic tyrant who first kidnapped certain individuals who were deemed as 'excess population' and loaded these individuals into space planes for transport to the site of extermination, the planet of Teegeeack (Earth). These space planes were supposedly exact copies of Douglas DC-8s. He then stacked hundreds of billions of these frozen victims around Earth's volcanoes 75 million years ago before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs and brainwashing them with a "three-D, super colossal motion picture" for 36 days. The traumatised thetans subsequently clustered around human bodies, in effect acting as invisible spiritual parasites known as "Body Thetans" that can only be removed using advanced Scientology techniques. Xenu is allegedly imprisoned in a mountain and kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery.

Related Topics:
OT - Xenu - Volcano - Motion picture - Body Thetans

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Scientologists argue that published accounts of the Xenu story and other colorful teachings are pulled out of context for the purpose of ridiculing their religion. Journalists and critics of Scientology counter that Xenu is part of a much wider Scientology belief in past lives on other planets, some of which has been public knowledge for decades. For instance, Hubbard's 1958 book Have You Lived Before This Life documents past lives described by individual Scientologists during auditing sessions. These included memories of being "deceived into a love affair with a robot decked out as a beautiful red-haired girl", being run over by a Martian bishop driving a steamroller, being transformed into an intergalactic walrus that perished after falling out of a flying saucer, and recalling life as "a very happy being who strayed to the planet Nostra 23,064,000,000 years ago."

Related Topics:
1958 - Robot - Martian - Bishop - Steamroller - Walrus

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Although reliable statistics are not available, it is fair to say that most Scientologists are not at a sufficiently high level on "the bridge" to learn about Xenu. Therefore, while knowledge of Xenu and Body Thetans is crucial to the highest level church teachings, it cannot be regarded as a core belief of rank and file Scientologists. On the other hand, Scientology literature does include many references to extraterrestrial past lives, and internal Scientology publications are often illustrated with pictures of spaceships and oblique references to catastrophic events that happened "75 million years ago" (e.g. the Xenu incident).

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Scientology and other religions

Scientology teaches entry-level recruits it is fully compatible with all existing major religions. Publicly the Church of Scientology states:

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: "Scientology respects all religions. Scientology does not conflict with other religions or other religious practices." (What is Scientology? 1992, p.544)

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This teaching about religious compatibility for entry level Scientologists is soon augmented with the further teaching that the various levels of spiritual prowess which can be reached through Scientology are far advanced above and beyond the levels of spiritual ability which can be reached by any, and all, traditional religions. (Within Scientology, spiritual abilities tends to be more synonymous with mystical powers than with inner peace.)

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Because Scientology is a mystery religion, its more esoteric teachings—which are only available to the most advanced practitioners and the Church attempts to retain in secrecy—may not always be entirely consistent with its entry level teachings.

Related Topics:
Mystery religion - Esoteric

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Should a practitioner succeed in advancing to a certain level of access to the more esoteric teachings of Scientology (which only a minority do), then they will learn a variety of secret doctrines, which may not be compatible with that taught at entry level. As a sort of a confirmation of the Church's position that it is superior to other religions, in its application for tax exempt status in the United States, the Church of Scientology International states:

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:"Although there is no policy or Scriptural mandate expressly requiring Scientologists to renounce other religious beliefs or membership in other churches, as a practical matter Scientologists are expected to and do become fully devoted to Scientology to the exclusion of other faiths. As Scientologists, they are required to look only to Scientology Scriptures for the answers to the fundamental questions of their existence and to seek enlightenment only from Scientology." (Response to Final Series of IRS Questions Prior to Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) As a Church, October 1 1993)

Related Topics:
October 1 - 1993

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A select group of advanced practitioners eventually discovers Hubbard left little doubt in his writings and lectures about the dim view he took towards existing major religions. In some of Hubbard's teachings intended only for this select group, he claimed Christ never existed, but was implanted in collective memory by an extraterrestrial tyrant 75 million years ago (see Xenu), and Christianity was an "entheta operation" mounted by beings called Targs (Hubbard, "Electropsychometric Scouting: Battle of the Universes", April 1952). Thus, Hubbard makes clear his belief advanced Scientologists are to identify Jesus and Christianity more as a force of evil (entheta) than as a force for good (theta). Again, it should be emphasized only a minority of Scientologists have been taught this advanced teaching regarding the supposedly 'evil' origins of Christianity.

Related Topics:
Christ - Xenu

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Hubbard believed himself to be a reincarnation of Buddha based on a dubious interpretation of Buddhist writings (Hubbard, Hymn of Asia, 1952). He claimed Islam was also the result of an extraterrestrial memory implant, called the Emanator, of which the Ka'aba is supposedly an artifact. Mainstream religions, in his view, had failed to realise their objectives: "It is all very well to idealise poverty and associate wisdom with begging bowls, or virtue with low estate. However, those who have done this (Buddhists, Christians, Communists and other fanatics) have dead ended or are dead ending" (Hubbard, HCOPL of 21 January 1965).

Related Topics:
Buddha - Islam - Ka'aba - 21 January - 1965

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It has been claimed a high-level Scientology document, OT VIII, states Jesus was a "lover of young boys and men, he was given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred." However, despite the document's admittance as evidence in court as part of the Fishman Affidavit, the Church of Scientology has stated this document is a forgery and some critics have expressed doubt about its authenticity.

Related Topics:
Jesus - Fishman Affidavit

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The Church of Scientology has clashed with other religious groups, such as the Church of England, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church, all of which have criticised Scientology's activities and doctrines occasionally. That said, it has also worked closely with other religious groups on community outreach projects and campaigns against perceived persecution by governments around the world.

Related Topics:
Church of England - Russian Orthodox Church - Lutheran Church

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