Scientology?

Question

Can someone please shed some light on what exactly scientologists believe in?

Answer 1

Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer & occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization, by means of Hubbard’s self created psychotherapy technique called “Dianetics”, claims to be able to help rid members of any & all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this & "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders & chemical imbalances (the solution is to convince members that these things don't actually exist) & drug dependence (including legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals which counteract the effects of psychological disorders Scientologists believe to be nonexistent).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluations
Dianetics review: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812852,00.html

The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Visit this link to see how $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder: http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html
These are the total costs for auditing alone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#Costs
Here’s an explanation of what “auditing” is: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061224182319AA2nnd6

At level OT III (Operating Thetan 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): the evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes” & blowing them up inside volcanoes with hydrogen bombs. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds. http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/spaink-ot3.html http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf

Scientology has taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional during everyday life. They don’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc, and the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). Suspiciously, it was discovered upon Hubbard’s death that the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine (Vistaril™) was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years. http://www.clambake.org/archive/ronthenut/16.gif
(visit this link to read about the uses of hydroxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html )

To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy & self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially & attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends & family, who would dissuade them from remaining in such a harmful situation. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits. See these links for more information: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml
http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/

Answer 2

I am a Scientologist.

The easiest way for me to put it for you is: before Scientology I thought I was more than just a body, with Scientology I have been able to experience the fact that I am a Being in charge of a body a Spirit as such.

I believe honest men and women have rights.
I believe that man can solve the problems of man by look at and applying the truth.
I believe that we got ourselves into the position we are in, as in all people on this planet. We are not here by some accident.

Practice and study of Scientology gives me tools, ways, ideas and viewpoint to deal with life.

The ability I have is mine, although Scientology has given me techniques to release this ability.

Answer 3

Here's a factual description for you:

Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. When I say "applied" I mean you actually use it in your life to change or improve existing conditions. It is a very practical religion.
All religions if you learn about them have a basic philosphy, but they also have certain dogma, rituals and observances, and a certain faith or belief is required. There is nothing wrong with this, but Scientology is not that kind of religion. It does not intrude on anyones faiths of beliefs in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual as pasrt of his life. It does not conflict.
You can have no specific religious beliefs and still benefit from it.
And it is only true for you according to your own observation and experience with it.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of messiahs in Scientology. There are no “beliefs” as such because a truth should be according to ones own observation and experience.
The dictionary definition that applies:
Religion: The spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognises the existence of superhuman power or powers.

The most basic principle of Scientology is that YOU are your own immortal soul, that this is not a "thing" you HAVE but what YOU actually are.
The whole purpose of Scientology is to increase an individual's understanding and awareness of himself. and lifeAnd thereby his native abilities .
When you do this the sphere and zone of his positive influence increases and moves outward into his life, his family ,his friends, his groups and mankind which he is part of.

How this result is achieved is the "technology" of Scientology, which was developed by L.Ron Hubbard after his extensive research and the discoveries he made, about the human spirit. The basic religious philosophy and knowledge of Scientology is very old, going back 10,000 years at least to the Veda or Vedic Hymns from the East. L. Ron Hubbard researched and made new discoveries about the human spirit. He developed technology from these discoveries to apply to increase spiritual awareness and ability.
He completed his research before his death in 1986 and left all of his results and copyrights
to the Church of Scientology along with most of his considerable personal estate, when he died.

He published a book in 1951 to communicate the basic principles he discovered called: " Scientology The Fundementals of Thought"
There are currently over 10 million Scientologists in more than 163 countries world wide. However we are a new religion, only 53 years old.
The true story of Scientology as a religion goes like this:
1. A philosopher developes a philosophy about life and death.
2. People find it interesting.
3. People find it works.
4. People pass it along to others.
5. It grows.

This is just an overview.
L. Ron Hubbard explained fully the theology and technologies of Scientology in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books and over 2,000 tape-recorded public lectures. So it's not possible to fully answer your question on this forum, but hopefully this gives you some idea.

Answer 4

Xenu!!

Short version....they think there were alien planets in a distant galaxy that were overpopulated, so the ruler Xenu shipped them all off to earth where their souls were trapped in volcanos (after being drugged by psychiatrists). These beings were called Thetans and the Scientology doctrine believes that people have these spirit Thetans attached to them and this is responsible for all the bad things in their life. The point is to get "clear" of these thetans via large amounts of money given to the church for a happier life.

I'm not kidding either! People actually buy this bunk. I may have gotten a few details wrong, but that's the essence of it anyway.

MADNESS!

Answer 5

began via L. Ron Hubbard as 'self aid process' known as Dianetics (he began out writing SiFi books after which wrote self aid books) ...it right into a grew to become "faith".....many men and women (Christians, atheist, agnostics, former participants, ect) say it's the ultimate 'textual content-ebook' instance of a non-violent Cult (notion a few participants have said bodily and emotional abuse) the fundamental suggestion is: for the period of your and beyond lives you have had poor studies that you simply can not take into account, those repressed studies 'keep you again'.... by way of particular counseling known as "Dianetics" (offered via the CoS. for a nominal price) you'll be able to 'system/manage' those unhealthy studies....as soon as there all sorted, you'll be able to go beyond to a "top simple of lifestyles" ....THE END....

Answer 6

They are against any forms of Psychiatry. But the higher ranks get the story of the Galactic empire ruled by the evil lord Xenu who captured a bunch of spirits sent them to earth in space ships that looked like DC-38's with rocket jets. Then dumped them into a bunch of volcanoes dropped hydrogen bombs on them captured the spirits and made them watch 3D movies for a while then released them on the earth.

Answer 7

knowledge to a certain extent.

Answer 8

THIS IS SCIENTOLOGY
Scientology is a path to find your own personal truth, these are the principles:

1. Man as we know him has three parts: Body, Mind and Spirit but the spirit is man’s true form. Man’s individuality, purpose and self determinism are originated in the spirit.
The second part of man is the mind, the mind is a bank of mental image pictures were all his experiences are stored. The spirit uses these memories to estimate future action effort and make decisions. We call these decisions ‘postulates’. A ‘postulate’ is a conclusion, decision or resolution made by the individual himself on his own self-determinism on data of the past to resolve problems on the past decide on present problems and observations and sets a pattern for the future.
The parts of the mind:
a. The analytical mind is the conscious and aware mind which thinks, observes data, remembers it and resolves problems. It would be essentially the conscious mind as opposed to the unconscious mind.
b. The reactive mind is the portion of the mind that was created during moments of unconsciousness or severe pain. This part of the mind that is occluded to the spirit but still impinges upon the spirit in a stimulus response sequence. This mind is the source of irrational fears and inexplicable emotions, pains and psychosomatic illnesses.
The third part of man is the body this part of man is the specialty of medicine and NOT Scientology. But I will tell you a little secret; the brain is not the mind. Man’s mind is far superior than the brain or any computer. First the brain doesn’t have the capacity to store not even a fraction of the mind’s memories. Secondly the amount data required to recreate man’s thinkingness is far beyond the abilities of the brain. We are talking about millions of gigabytes of data being instantly transferred from the memories banks to man’s consciences for analysis. Just think about it, brain cells are not even a good conductor of electricity. It is physically impossible for brain cells to transfers such high amount of data. All what the brain is the center of the nervous systems, the brain controls movement, glands and receives information from it’s sensor but all thinkingness of man is done by the spirit. You are not a biological machine, you are a spiritual being that has a mind and controls a body through a brain.

2. Dianetics rehabilitation technology assists the individual in exploring his own mind on a self determined basis in order to eradicate the reactive or unconscious mind. In order for the reactive mind to exist it needs to be occluded from the spirit but once the spirit have look and examined the reactive mind, the reactive mind disappears and its data becomes part of the analytical mind.

3. Scientology spiritual rehabilitation technology addresses the rehabilitation of the individuals or groups ability and ethics. Dianetics is an important part of Scientology but it only addresses the reactive mind whereas Scientology addresses all parts of life including communication, learning and morals.

4. Scientology doctrine as a religion holds as its most important axiom “What is true for you is what you your self observe to be true.” This axiom promotes individual thinkingness and independence. In fact it is a high crime in Scientology for anyone to tell anyone what to think or what to believe in. In Scientology it is YOU that do the exploring, YOU that do the observations and YOU come up with your own conclusion.

5. Scientology has highly trained experts to assist you in this journey. We call these experts auditors, auditors are not counselors because they don’t give counsel or opinion. The role of the auditor is to listen and ask a question or command, these questions or commands are geared towards calling your attention to observe a part of life and YOU, by making these observations you gain new data and you reach new conclusions.
The Auditor follows this code:
http://www.scientology.org/en_US/religion/auditing/pg004a.html
“1. I promise not to evaluate for the preclear or tell him what he should think about his case in session.”, “11. I promise never to get angry with a preclear in session.”, “24. I promise to see that any donation received for processing is refunded, following the policies of the Claims Verification Board, if the preclear is dissatisfied and demands it within three months after the processing, the only condition being that he may not again be processed or trained.”

6. This link has 28 different religious studies papers on Scientology made by religious scholars: http://www.neuereligion.de/ENG/index.html Also see this link: http://www.bonafidescientology.org/Append/09/index.htm

7. Scientology vs. Psychiatry. Psychiatry is a dogma that believes that self awareness, feelings, love and faith is merely cellular activity. Basically they think that you are your brain and you are not in charge of your behavior but your cells are. But contrary to their beliefs Psychiatry bases it’s diagnosis on opinion and opinion alone. There aren’t any pathological tests that can determine if a person is mentally ill.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3895596783332855545&q=Psychiatry+is+fraude&hl=enhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8443414209115892468&q=scientology&hl=en
In the following video two college professors explain that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbTqjSfMPKA&mode=related&search=
Happiness, exhilaration, depression and psychosis are states of mind, not diseases. All what you have to do to stop being depress is change your state of mind and you CAN do that.
Note: Scientology doesn't have anything against Psychology or Neurology.

8. Scientology is a force for good in society and fights dangerous and harmful drugs and Psychiatric abuses, http://www.cchr.org/ criminality, http://www.criminon.org and drug addiction. http://www.narconon.org. And Scientologists initiated the social reform group "Youth for Human Rights" http://www.youthforhumanrights.org and the movement "Say no to drugs and yes to life". http://www.notodrugs-yestolife.org
Scientologists are some of the more intelligent, able, successful and happy people in this planet; including Jenna Elfman, Kelly Preston, John Travolta, Priscilla Presley, Sofia Milos and Leah Remini.
Scientology is composed more than 6,000 churches, missions and groups, employing over 10,000 members, over 10 million people have taken Scientology services WW.

9. Scientology doesn't ask for donations from their parishioners during their Sunday Services. All chapel services are 100% free (marriages, naming ceremonies, ect). Scientology uses an exchange system to finance its organizations, basically earns its money by delivering services. You do not need to buy services to be in Scientology. All you need to do to be a Scientologist is to read the books and apply Scientology to your life. But if you want auditing there are many alternative and economical ways to achieve this.
a. You can do volunteer work in your local church and get your services for free.
b. You can study to become an auditor and perform all auditing with a fellow student. This way you also become a trained auditor and you can provide free services to friends and family.

10. Scientology means “knowing how to know” and follows a tradition of 10,000 years in the study of life and the spirit. Scientology earliest ancestor is the Veda (the Veda means knowingness or sacred lore) continued with the Tao-The-king (also known as Taoism and it means “the way to solving the mystery which underlines all mysteries”) continued by the Dhyana (that means knowingness or lookingness), continued by the works of Gautama Sakyamuni also know as Gautama Buddha (a Buddha or Bodhi is one that has attained intellectual and ethical perfection by human means).
“The words of Christ of were a lesson of compassion and they set a very fine example” The Phoenix Lectures by LRH

11. L Ron Hubbard (13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986), was a literary genius that published more than two hundred stories and novels between 1927 and 1941. As a Hollywood screenwriter during this same period he wrote the screen plays for films such as The Mysterious Pilot and The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, while his The Secret of Treasure Island stands as one of the most profitable serials of all time. With a regular production of one hundred thousand words a month LRH was the undisputed king of high-speed production writers. In fact he had the ability to produce a whole story in a couple days of work by only using a manual type writer (believe it or not). Amazingly in the 1980ties he did a come back as a writer by producing the best sellers ‘Battlefield Earth’ and the decaology (ten volume series) Mission Earth. LRH had 21 consecutive international bestsellers, a feat unmatched in publishing history.

LRH could have lived a very profitable and idle life as a writer but he chose to use his earnings and industry to research the human spirit and human mind. This research later became Dianetics and Scientology. LRH produced 5,000 writings and 3,000 tape-recorded lectures on the subject of Dianetics and Scientology. Contrary to popular belief L Ron Hubbard never profited from Dianetics and Scientology but it actually cost him many millions. Dianetics and Scientology are LRH’s gift to humanity. LRH also developed drug rehabilitation, educational and management programs. Humanity will always be indebted for the contributions of LRH.
For more questions see my blog:
http://www.myspace.com/129727315

References
http://www.bonafidescientology.org/
http://www.chaplaincare.navy.mil/Scientology.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol.htm
http://www.scientology.org/
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8057_1.html