Scientology

SCIENTOLOGY® BASICS

What does the word Scientology mean?
The word Scientology means "the study of knowledge" or "knowing about knowing" from the Latin word scio which means "know" or "distinguish," and from the Greek word logos which means "reason itself" or "inward thought." So it means the study of wisdom or knowledge, or "knowing how to know." Scientology is further defined as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life. The word was coined by L Ron Hubbard.

What is Scientology about?
Developed by L Ron Hubbard, Scientology provides exact principles and practical technology for improving self-confidence, intelligence and ability. Scientology does not require faith or belief-one can apply the principles and see for oneself if they work and are true.
Scientology addresses the spirit-not simply the body or mind-and is therefore completely apart from materialistic philosophies which hold that man is a product of his environment-or his genes.
Scientology is a religion by its basic tenets, practice, historical background and by the definition of the word religion itself. It is recognized as such by courts in country after country around the world, including the highest courts in the United States, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and many others.

All denominations are welcome in Scientology.
Scientology is a route, a way, rather than a dissertation or an assertive body of knowledge.
Through its drills and studies one may find the truth for oneself. It is the only thing that can show you who you really are.
The technology is therefore not expounded as something to believe but something to do.

How did Scientology start?
L.Ron Hubbard began his studies of the mind in 1923. In 1947 he wrote a manuscript detailing some of his discoveries. It was not published at that time, but circulated among friends, who copied it and passed it on to others. (This manuscript was formally published in 1951 as Dianetics®: The Original Thesis and later republished as The Dynamics of Life.)
As copies of the manuscript circulated, Mr. Hubbard began to receive an increasing flow of letters requesting further information and more applications of his new subject. He soon found himself spending all his time answering letters and decided to write a comprehensive text on the subject.
His first published article on the subject, "Terra Incognita: The Mind," appeared in the Winter/Spring 1950 issue of the Explorers Club Journal, followed by the book Dianetics: The Modem Science of Mental Health, which was published in May 1950. It became a nationwide bestseller almost overnight. By late summer, people across the country were not only reading the book, but were also organizing their own groups for the purpose of applying Dianetics techniques. The book has remained a bestseller ever since, again becoming number one on the New York Times bestseller list, almost four decades after its initial publication. It continues to appear on bestseller lists around the world.
During the course of thousands of hours of Dianetics counseling on thousands of individuals all over the country, incontrovertible evidence was amassed about the fundamentally spiritual nature of man. L.Ron Hubbard himself had discovered early in his research that man was a spiritual being, inhabiting a body and using a mind. These discoveries led him to realize that he had entered the realm of religion.
In 1954, the first Church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles by a group of Scientologists. Within a few years churches had been formed across the country and around the world.
In the years that followed, L. Ron Hubbard completed his research into the spiritual nature of man. Today, all his writings on the subject are available to anyone who wishes to study Scientology. Although Mr. Hubbard departed his body in 1986, he is still with us in spirit and the legacy of his work continues to help people around the world.

How come it's all based on one man's work?
In the early 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard wrote: "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, Rene' 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."

Why is Scientology called a religion?
Religion is defined as "Any specific system of belief and worship, often involving code of ethics and a philosophy. . . ." (Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition)
Religious philosophy implies study of spiritual manifestations, research on the nature of the spirit and study of the relationship of the spirit to the body; exercises devoted to the rehabilitation of abilities in a spirit.
Scientology is a religion in the most traditional sense. It deals with man as a spirit and is distinguishable from material and nonreligious philosophies which hold man to be a product of material circumstances. Scientology does not demand blind faith, but endeavors to help the individual discover past experiences and shed the trauma and guilt (sin) which encumber him.
The Church of Scientology also conducts basic services such as sermons at church meetings, christenings, weddings and funerals.

Why is Scientology a church?
The word church comes from the Greek word kurios meaning "lord" and the Indo-European base kewe, "to be strong." Current meanings of the word include "a congregation," "ecclesiastical power as distinguished from the secular" and "the clerical profession; clergy."
The word church is not only used by Christian organizations. There were churches ten thousand years before there were Christians, and Christianity itself was a revolt against the established church. In modern usage, people speak of the Buddhist or Moslem church, referring in general to the whole body of believers in a particular religious teaching.
A church is simply a congregation of people who participate in common religious activities; church is also used to refer to the building where members of a religious group gather to practice their religion and attain greater spiritual awareness and well-being.
Scientology helps man become more aware of God, more aware of his own spiritual nature and that of those around him. Scientology scriptures recognize that there is an entire dynamic (urge or motivation in life) devoted to the Supreme Being (the eighth dynamic), and another dynamic that deals solely with one's urge toward existence as a spirit (the seventh dynamic). Acknowledgment of these aspects of life is a typical characteristic of religions. Thus, Scientology is a religion and the use of the word church when referring to Scientology is correct.
In the 1950s, Scientologists recognized that L. Ron Hubbard's technology and its results dealt directly with the freeing of the human spirit, and that greater spiritual awareness was routinely being achieved. There was no question in their minds that what they were dealing with was a religious practice; thus, in the early 1950s, they voted that a church be formed to better serve the needs of Scientologists. The first church of Scientology was incorporated in 1954. Since that time, dozens of court rulings in many different countries have upheld the fact that Scientology is a religion.

Is man a spirit?
Yes. Here's a short exercise you can do to find out for yourself. Close your eyes and get a picture of a cat.
Done? That which is looking at that cat is you, a spirit.

How does one know man is a spirit?
It is a matter that each individual must examine for himself. Scientologists believe man is more than a mind and body and that it is he, himself, the spirit, who can control his mind and body.
Do you think your body would do anything by itself if it were not guided by you, the being?

What is the Scientology concept of God?
The Church has no dogma concerning God, and each person's concept is probably different. As a person becomes more aware of himself, others, the environment and God, each person attains his own certainty as to who God is and exactly what God means to him. The author of the universe exists. How God is symbolized or manifested is up to each individual to find for himself.
In his book Science of Survival, L. Ron Hubbard writes: "No culture in the history of the world, save the thoroughly depraved and expiring ones, has failed to affirm the existence of a Supreme Being. It is an empirical observation that men without a strong and lasting faith in a Supreme Being are less capable, less ethical and less valuable to themselves and society . . . . A man without an abiding faith is, by observation alone, more of a thing than a man."

Can't God be the only one to help man?
Scientologists take the maxim quite to heart that God helps those who help themselves. They believe that each person has the answers to the mysteries of life; all he requires is awareness of these answers, and this is what Scientology helps a person achieve. Man is accustomed to asking for pat answers. Scientology requires that the person think for himself and thus help himself become more intelligent, happy and healthy.

Why do Scientologists want to help people?
For several reasons. First, because Scientologists themselves have been helped enormously-and they want others to share the same successes. Second, Scientologists understand that life is not lived alone. An individual has more than just one dynamic (the urge to survive as self). He wants to help his family, his groups, mankind itself and living things survive better.

Does Scientology recognize good and evil?
Yes, in Scientology, a very clear distinction is made between good and evil. Those actions which enhance survival on the majority of the eight aspects or dynamics of life are good, and those which destroy or deny these aspects of life are evil. Decisions are then based on enhancing the majority of these dynamics of life.
Good may be defined as constructive. Evil may be defined as destructive.

Does Scientology believe man is sinful?
It is a basic tenet of Scientology that man is basically good, but that he is aberrated (capable of erring or departing from rational thought or behavior) and therefore commits harmful acts or sins, thus reducing his awareness and potential power.
Through Scientology he can confront his actions, erase the ignorance and aberration which surrounds them and know and experience truth again.
All religions seek truth. Freedom of the spirit is only to be found on the road to truth.
Sin is composed, according to Scientology, of lies and hidden actions and is therefore untruth.

Will Scientology put one in control of his mind?
Yes. As you are a spiritual being, quite separate from your mind and your body, Scientology will help you achieve a far better command over your mind, just as it helps you to intelligently control all aspects of your life.

Is Scientology about the mind?
No. Scientology is about the individual himself as separate and distinct from the mind. Dianetics concerns the mind and contains the most advanced technology of the mind man has.

Does Scientology believe in mind over matter?
Scientology addresses you-not your mind, not your body, but you.
Scientologists have found that the spirit is potentially superior to material things, and that the spirit, i.e., you, if cleansed of past traumas, transgressions and aberrations, can make miraculous changes in the physical universe that would not otherwise be possible.

Does Scientology believe one can exist outside of the body?
Before entering Scientology many people experience the feeling of looking down on one's body, and by achieving greater spiritual awareness through Scientology, this experience becomes nothing out of the ordinary. Scientology believes that man is not his body, his mind or his brain. He, a spiritual force, energizes the physical body and his life.
Scientology proved, for the first time, that man was a spiritual being, not an animal.

Does Scientology believe in reincarnation or past lives?
Reincarnation is a definite system and is not part of Scientology. It is a fact that unless one begins to handle aberrations built up in past lives, he doesn't progress.
The definition of the term reincarnation has been altered from its original meaning. The word has come to mean "to be born again in different life forms," whereas its actual definition is "to be born again into the flesh or into another body."
Today in Scientology many people have certainty that they have lived lives prior to their current one. These are referred to as past lives, not as reincarnation. Individuals are free to believe this or not; past lives are not a dogma in Scientology, but generally Scientologists, during auditing, experience a past life and then know for themselves that they have lived before.
To believe one had a physical or other existence prior to the identity of the current body is not a new concept-but it is an exciting one.
In Scientology, you are given the tools to handle upsets and aberrations from past lives that adversely affect you in present time, thus freeing you to live a much happier life.

Does Scientology believe in charity and welfare?
It does. However, Scientologists also believe in the principle that exchange is necessary. If a person only receives and never gives, he will not be a happy person and will lose his own self-respect. Therefore, any Scientology-sponsored charity programs also encourage those receiving the charity to make some form of contribution by helping others so that self-respect can be maintained.

Does Scientology hold any political views?
Scientology is nonpolitical. By its Creed, "All men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and governments." Scientologists are free to hold their own political views, vote for the candidates of their choice, etc., and are not given direction from the Church as to what position to take on political issues or candidates. The Church believes there should be separation of church and state.

Can one make up his own mind about Scientology?
One can and indeed one should. Scientology enables you to think for yourself. There is no purpose served in studying Scientology because someone else wants you to. But if you've taken a good look at your life and have decided that you want to make it better, the best thing is to start and find out for yourself what Scientology can do for you. One should read one of the basic books by L. Ron Hubbard, such as Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health or Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought.
What is real in Scientology for you is what you find in it that is real for you.

What is the Scientology cross?
It is an eight-pointed cross representing the eight parts or dynamics of life through which each individual is striving to survive. These parts are: the urge toward existence as self, as an individual; the urge to survive through creativity, including the family unit and the rearing of children; the urge to survive through a group of individuals or as a group; the urge toward survival through all mankind and as all mankind; the urge to survive as life forms and with the help of life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish and vegetation; the urge to survive of the physical universe, by the physical universe itself and with the help of the physical universe and each one of its component parts; the urge to survive as spiritual beings or the urge for life itself to survive; the urge toward existence as infinity. To be able to live happily with respect to each of these spheres of existence is symbolized by the Scientology cross.
As a matter of interest, the cross as a symbol predates Christianity.

What religious holidays do Scientologists celebrate?
Scientologists celebrate several major holidays annually. These include the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard (March 13); the date marking the initial publication of Dianetics (May 9); Auditor's Day, in honor of all auditors (second Sunday in September); and the International Association of Scientologists Anniversary, to mark the founding of this organization which unites, supports and protects the Scientology religion and Scientologists in all parts of the world (October 7).
Additionally, each local country or area may observe its own significant dates, such as the founding of the church in its area or the opening of the first Dianetics or Scientology organization in that country. Members of the Church also observe traditional religious holidays such as Christmas.