Scientology.... what do they really belive?

Question

I work for an organization ran by scientolgists.... and to be honest it is a completely different world than when I am not at work. Very different. Seems how it is a religion what do they really believe?

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). Their “treatment” of substance abuse includes little more than massive doses of vitamins and extended sessions in a sauna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluation_and_criticisms
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
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/detox.htm
http://www.nypress.com/20/22/news&columns/feature.cfm

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 $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every tiny incremental step towards this end. 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”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. 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://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_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. It doesn’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, & the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings & even September 11th. It’s been suggested that Hubbard’s vehement opposition was born of the psychiatric community’s rejection of his “tech” as a valid treatment method, but it’s also possible that Hubbard chose psychiatry as a scapegoat. Organizations like Scientology are notorious for villainizing a specific out-group because their “stand against the enemy” fosters cohesion within said organization, & psychiatry was an effective rallying point (given that many people already distrust & oppose the mental health profession).
http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scientology.htm
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1
http://perkinstragedy.org

L. Ron Hubbard, the man behind the creation of Scientology, was & still is a controversial figure. Biographies & lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology & non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate & outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books & articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books & articles are provided below), showing conclusively that he was NOT the brilliant, accomplished figure revered by Scientologists. During his autopsy, the sedative 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. It had also been said by many who knew Hubbard personally that at the end of his life he was “a psychopathic insane person screaming about BT's [Body Thetans]…”
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt
http://skull.piratehaven.org/~atman/factnet/lrhbare.txt

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 bullies all known critics, opponents, “enemies”, etc, often through malicious litigation & character assassination. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits.
http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/harass.htm#start
http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml
http://www.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html

Answer 2

That is a Good question . In today's world, the faithful from the old religions are seen as uneducated, or crazy zealots . Some people run to any new flashy idea (like Scientology) to fill the void left when we are pulled away from God . While they may really believe it (it is a matter of Faith like all religions) We as a people should not worry about others faith(whether we are religious or not ), but try and strengthen our own, no matter what we believe .

Answer 3

I tried it for a bit and then quit. Didnt hear any of the stuff about aliens that I see posted here by such well informed internetters but their excuse is that its all "secret knowledge known only to the topmost members" which means its not whats believed by 99% of scientologists (even if its really part of it at all)

Mostly they believe that your problems are in you, and so are the answers. Not drugging it away, or praying it away. Like most SciFi writers, the guy that started it was a decent researcher and gathered alot of self-help techniques from all over the world and put them into a logical package (easy to take courses). Of course back in the early 50's you had to be either medical or religious to make the claims he did about how well the stuff worked.

The church part is very non-denominational. I west to some of their sunday services. All religions were there. The service was generic stuff aobut wishing well to people going thru disasters, asking for food cans and clothing to send, or volunteers for disaster teams. At least they didnt pass a plate and hint about wanting 10% of my income like some well known religions :)

The courses I took (the cheaper ones on Better Communications and on Better Studying) were great. I still use them all the time.

Answer 4

In answer to your question most of the stuff you see on line, including here, is a load of bs dealing with space aliens, natural childbirth, Tom Cruise & vitamins. It is largely based on untruths, partial truths and misunderstood truths.

A very good & funny documentary was made on just this topic by a British Comic, Hardeep Singh Kohli, for one of the British TV channels. The video of that show is available in various places on the web.

Among such are: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1786568759674213741
http://www.videosift.com/video/Hardeep-Singh-Kohlis-The-Beginners-Guide-To-L-Ron-Hubbard

Further questions are readily answered on the yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreezoneOrg

That is a yahoo group formed by practicing scientologists who have left the church of scientology over problems with the church managements direction of that organization. The scientologists there are knowledgeable of the subject & practice of scientology yet not involved with the operations of the cultlike church.

It is a site that welcomes all people whether scientologists or simply non-scientologists curious about the subject. Stop by for a chat.

Answer 5

It was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 (he was a science fiction author) and it's a scary cult who's beliefs include clusters of aliens living inside humans, the space "God Xenu and his Galactic Confederacy and they charge tons of money for these "auditing" courses with the goal to reach the state of "clear" The information you would pay incredible amounts of money to learn from these courses are spread on the Internet now.

Crazy



It's really too much to type here but the wiki link below is very informative.

Answer 6

The word Scientology literally means "the study of truth." It comes from the Latin word "scio" meaning "knowing in the fullest sense of the word" and the Greek word "logos" meaning "study of."

Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life. The religion comprises a body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these:

Man is an immortal, spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized — and those capabilities can be realized. He is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.

In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.

Answer 7

Prime among Scientology's beliefs is: "that man is a spiritual being whose existence spans more than one life and who is endowed with abilities well beyond those which he normally considers he possesses."

Scientology believes man to be basically good and that his experiences have led him into evil. That he errs because he seeks to solve his problems by considering only his own point of view. And that man can improve to the degree he preserves his spiritual integrity and remains honest and decent.

According to the Church, the ultimate goal is: "a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.”

The purpose of Scientology is "to know"; to achieve complete certainty of one’s spiritual existence and one’s relationship to the Supreme Being. In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith, the tenets of Scientology are expected to be tested and seen to either be true or not by Scientology practitioners. "That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true."

Scientology says its practice provides exact and precise methods by which a person can achieve greater spiritual awareness. Being "Auditing" and "Training" the primary practices of Scientology.

The exact nature of all of existence is said to be stated in Hubbard's Scientology and Dianetics Axioms.

Other beliefs of Scientology are:

A person is an immortal spiritual being (termed a thetan) who possesses a mind and a body.
The thetan has lived through many past lives and will continue to live beyond the death of the body.
Through the Scientology process of "auditing," people can free themselves of specific traumatic incidents, prior ethical transgressions and bad decisions, which are said to collectively restrict the person from reaching the state of "Clear," and after that, the state of "Operating Thetan." Each state is said to represent recovering the native spiritual abilities of the individual, and to confer dramatic mental and physical benefits.
A person is basically good, but becomes "aberrated" by moments of pain and unconsciousness in his or her life.
Psychiatry and psychology are destructive and abusive practices.

Answer 8

Something about being aliens that can't return to their homeworld until they die, but if they believe in the fake religions made by this earth they will be kept tethered to the planet and unable to return to their utopian society.

They also have a device that can judge how "Holy" you are by how well you conduct electricity.

Explaination of Scientology from Relgioustolerance.org:

Beliefs:
The word "Scientology" means "the study of knowledge or truth." The Scientology religion holds that man is basically good, not evil. It teaches that it is their experiences that cause people to commit evil deeds. It is not their basic nature to do so. People can mistakenly solve their problems by thinking only of their own personal interests and overlook or ignore how their acts affect others. This creates interpersonal strife and problems. The Scientology religion also holds that individuals advance to the degree they preserve their spiritual integrity and values, and remain honest and decent — indeed, individuals deteriorate to the degree they abandon these qualities.

Some religions try to help humanity by solving people's problems for them. Scientology is different — it believes in increasing the ability and intelligence of the individual so he or she can improve his own life, overcome those factors that hold him down, and solve his or her own problems. What's more, once one has accomplished this he or she naturally starts to reach out to help his family, friends and society.

According to Scientology, the individual is not a body but a spirit. However there have been so many different concepts of the term soul through the ages that a new term was needed. The term chosen by Mr. Hubbard was "thetan" from the Greek letter theta, the traditional symbol for thought and life. The thetan is the person himself, not his body, his name, the physical universe or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the identity that IS the individual.

One phenomenon of the spirit or thetan, researched by Mr. Hubbard, is exteriorization. Exteriorization is the ability of the thetan to leave the body and exist independent of the flesh. Exteriorized, the individual can see without the body's eyes, hear without the body's ears and feel without the body's hands. Man previously had little understanding of this detachment from his mind and body. With the act of exteriorization, attainable in Scientology, the individual gains the certainty that he is himself, an immortal spiritual being, and not a body.

Some basic Scientology concepts that assist a person to better understand life better are:

The Eight Dynamics of Existence: A "dynamic" is an urge, drive or impulse towards survival. With an understanding of these dynamics a person gains insight and can bring all aspects of his life into alignment. The first four dynamics were initially described by Mr. Hubbard in his texts on Dianetics in 1950. He expanded this to encompass four additional zones of existence the following year when he began research into the spiritual nature of man. These dynamic urges are best viewed as a series of concentric circles moving out from the first to the eighth: The First Dynamic is the urge to survive as oneself.
The Second is the urge to survive through family and sex and the rearing of children.
The Third is the urge to survive in groups small and large — a company, a group of friends, a city, a nation.
The Fourth is the urge to survive as mankind.
The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth are the urges to survive through other life forms such as animals and plants, the physical universe, the spiritual universe and Infinity or Supreme Being respectively.

Scientology teaches that by simply delineating these dynamics, it clarifies and brings order into existence. One can observe these dynamics in one's own life, note which need improvement and through the use of Scientology principles bring these factors into greater harmony.

Affinity, Reality and Communication: A concept of considerable importance in the Scientology religion is the principle of affinity, reality and communication. These three factors, expressed as a triangle, are enormously important in interpersonal relations. Affinity is the degree of liking or affection or lack of it for someone or something. Reality is agreement on the solid things of life, or concepts mutually held between individuals. Communication is the interchange of ideas, perceptions or objects between two or more people.

The concept is that when one corner of the triangle goes up, the other two corners also go up. Conversely, when one corner goes down, the other corners also go down. So when one establishes good communication with someone and agreement on some subject, affinity rises. Conversely, when there is a disagreement, affinity lowers as does communication.

These three factors — affinity, reality and communication — add up to understanding. When one really understands something, he or she is in good communication with it, has affinity for it and understands what it is about.

The ARC triangle has many uses in life. By gaining skill in raising the corners of this triangle one can increase understanding and improve relationships with anyone.

Answer 9

Give me all your money and I will tell you.

ADDENDUM

"To the first answer that is Evangelism."

Yep. In the old-time L. Ron style. He was a third-rate sci fi writer, but a highly persuasive huckster. I'm sure he's laughing in his grave at the suckers he's still hauling in.

Answer 10

Church of Scientology: What Does It Teach?
The Church of Scientology teaches that mankind is immortal and divine. Man is composed of three dimensions: soul (“thetan”), mind (an accumulation of all experiences in multiple lives), and body (the temporary and physical dimension).

God is a vague concept. Scientology defines the Supreme Being with terms such as “infinity” and the "allness of all."

“Engrams” are the unconscious mental images that we record in our “reactive mind” that have negative effects on our present and future lives. They are learned from our past lives, prenatal experience, and early childhood, and prevent us from realizing our divine nature and experiencing a happy and fulfilled life. Engrams can only be removed from our mind through dianetic counseling. This process of counseling is called "auditing," and involves an "E-meter" (Electropsychometer), a device invented by Hubbard that helps a client discover and remove engrams from the unconscious mind. The goal of auditing is to travel from “preclear” to "clear," where a person is expunged of all engrams and their negative effects on the mind and body.

Since people experience many thetan reincarnations over thousands of years, auditing usually requires the clearing of engrams from past lives. The ultimate goal of auditing is to completely liberate the thetan from “MEST” and attain total spiritual awareness and oneness with infinity. MEST is an acronym derived from matter, energy, space, and time, which composes the physical universe and hold the thetan captive. The “doctrine” of Scientology has been compiled by the Church of Scientology International in the book, What is Scientology? (1978). Dianetic auditing sessions may cost as much as $1,000 per hour.

Church of Scientology: Who Cares?
The Church of Scientology has been called a "thriving cult of greed and power. . .a ruthless global scam. . ." (Time magazine, May 1991). It has also been declared a "dangerous cult. . .a racket disguised as a religion. . ." (Reader's Digest, October 1991).

Scientology always seems find its way into the popular media. If it’s not a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, it’s a famous personality making a controversial statement. All we know is that Hubbard was an absolute genius. He was a fantastic speaker and prolific writer who sold millions of books and made millions of dollars by creating and marketing his own religion. In 1949, L. Ron Hubbard was quoted as saying, "If a man wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." Well, it seems that Mr. Hubbard proved himself right.

Church of Scientology-how does it compare to Christianity?


Scientology believes that man is an immortal, spiritual being with unlimited capabilities whose experience extends beyond a single lifetime. Through Scientology he is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.

Christianity believes that only God is immortal, and only He is the key to salvation. Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible, the authoritative Word of God. Jesus was God in the flesh, and He died for our sins. He arose from the dead three days later. The only way to salvation is accept him as our Lord and Savior.


Scientologists do not ask anyone to accept anything on faith or belief. Each person reaches their own “truth” according to what is true for them, and every person’s truth is different.

John 14:6 says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the truth, and eternal life only comes through Him.

Answer 11

To the first answer that is Evangelism.