Scientology

S C I E N T O L O G Y

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• The Founder Of Scientology Scientology movement was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1952. It is said that Hubbard’s first encounter with Blackfoot Indians happened in 1913 when he was only 2 years old. In the years to follow Hubbard met Old Tom, a Blackfoot Indian medicine man. It is said that this elderly Shaman passed much of the lore to Hubbard that when he was only six years old, Hubbard became honored with the status of ‘blood brother of the Blackfeet’ through a ceremony. Being a graduate of Engineering and Atomic and Molecular Physics, he set out on a journey to discover answers for human dilemma. It is reported that his first experiment concerning the function of the mind was carried out while he was still a college student. L. Ron Hubbard was by all means a Jack of all trades. He has produced over 130 novels and fictions, some of which won film rights and became major motion pictures. In his early thirties, he became commissioned as a Lieutenant of the United States Navy Reserve and served in Australia as a coordinator of intelligent activities. Soon after the war, Hubbard returned to his writings and the 16 yr long research quest on dynamics of existence. In 1950, he wrote, Dianetics which appeared on the New York time best seller list. With his increasing popularity, he began lecturing on Dianetics. In the year which followed, he printed 6 books concerning his discoveries in the field of human mind. By then he had discovered the answers he was so vigorously looking for and began a new line of research to determine ways of regaining natural human abilities. The latter discoveries are the foundation on which Scientology is formed. In 1952, Hubbard moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he opened his first office establishing ‘The Hubbard Association of Scientologists International’.

• The Church Of Scientology The first Scientology church was established in New Jersey by Ron Hubbard and his wife, Mary Sue Hubbard. The Hubbard association of Scientologists International was already in operation by this time. The church became established with Hubbard’s realization of the religious aspect of Scientology.

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In Hubbard’s own words, this is what Scientology is all about: “A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without

war, where the able can prospe, where honest beings can have rights and where man is free to rise to greater heights."

The Background Story Of Scientology

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According to Hubbard, 75 million years ago, the galactic confederacy named Xenu who ruled 26 stars and 76 planets including the Earth (which was then known as Teegeeack) brought billions of his people to planet Earth in DC-8 like spacecrafts where they were stacked around volcanoes and killed using Hydrogen bombs. Therefore, Scientologists believe that essence of those souls (known as ‘thetans’) remain here on Earth around people of modern age, causing spiritual harm. The story of Xenu is referred to as ‘The wall of fire’ or ‘Incident II’ within Scientology. There’s said to be Scientology secrets shared only among advanced members of the group. So although the basic Xenu story is revealed, it is believed that there’s a larger portion which is yet to unveil. However, there have been many incidents where the church of Scientology has been reluctant to admit the existence of the Xenu story. Dianetics is the other main component of Scientology. The Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices about the relationship between the body, mind and the spirit, developed by Hubbard. He links Dianetics to the Xenu story by stating that mental and psychosomatic problems are caused by traumatic recordings called ‘engrams’ (such as that of those who died of Hydrogen bombs) that are stored in the reactive mind. Thus, Dianetics work towards ridding or ‘clearing’ engrams from the mind.

• Scientology Beliefs  Deity

Theta form of energy exists within all forms of life. Scientologists do not concentrate on a specific dogma as they believe that the concept of God is something personal which lies within every single being. Thus, they believe that, greater spiritual awareness reveals God within oneself.

 Incarnations 2

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Humans are spiritual beings who can realize themselves to God-like states, through Scientology practices.

 Suffering

Suffering occurs in the physical plane. When the individual becomes aware of the spiritual plane and his/her nature and boundaries within the physical plane, it is possible to raise up to a higher state of mind and over come the suffering.

 Salvation

The path to salvation or enlightenment is achieving the following 3 stages of self improvement; Pre-clear, Clear and Ultimately Operating Thetan. At the level of an operating thetan, one could control matter, energy, thought, space, time and life.

 Rebirth

Individuals continue to have rebirths until they confront all pre-birth, current life and previous life traumas. Once they realize their true potential, they are able to escape the cycle of birth and feel one with God.

 Evil

Wrong doings are caused by aggregated traumas and bad life experiences in one’s pre-birth, current life or previous lives, which are remembered by one’s active mind.

• Norms, Values, Rituals, Ceremonies & Practices Scientologists attend a Sunday service where the chaplain reads off texts of Hubbard and the audience is allowed to ask any questions they may have. The prayers are usually aimed at bringing about justice in the world, understanding the Supreme Being for religious freedom and for spiritual advancement. However, the significant feature in a Sunday service is what is called ‘the group processing’, where the chaplain gets the participants to exercise.(e.g. look at the ceiling, look at the wall on to your right, look at the ground etc). Scientology wedding ceremonies are as normal as any other. However, the wedding rings have special significance as it symbolizes ‘permanency’. It is considered a ‘reminder’ to husband and the wife to continue understanding each other to maintain a lasting relationship.

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The Scientologists’ funerals are similar to that of Belgian Antoinists. The chaplain would directly address the deceased person bidding farewell and inviting the spirit to take up another body. Another important event among Scientologists is the ‘Naming ceremony’. The main purpose of this ceremony is to help the thetan who has taken over a new body to become oriented. So the ceremony is practiced with the belief of introducing the thetan to his new body, parents and his god parents. There are also certain rituals that are known to be observed at child birth. The most important is silence during child birth. This means, the mother and all others that are present in the room should remain absolutely silent to help the baby to avoid ‘engrams’ which are impressions formed in the brain because of physical pain and painful experiences. They also believe that women have a right to demand good treatment while being pregnant.

‘Auditing’ is considered to be the main religious practice among the Scientologists. It is a counseling practice, unique in its nature, intended to help people adapt a different way of looking at life and its experiences in order to improve their abilities. Auditing is known as a codified activity with precise and strict guidelines and procedures. The ‘Auditor’, uses a specially designed device named the ‘E-Meter’ (ElectroPsycho Meter) which is believed to be able to locate areas of spiritual distress by measuring mental state of the person being examined.

• Principles & Concepts Of Scientology 

The primary concept of Scientology is that man is made up of three components namely; Body, Mind and Spirit.

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The three main axioms of Scientology are Axiom 01: Life is basically static Axiom 04: Space is a view point of dimension Axiom 21: Understanding is composed of affinity, reality and communication.

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Scientology view of survival is that they believe that human urge for survival can be categorized in to 8 stages. 1. Self – urge to survive as an individual 2. Sex – sexual act and family unit 3. Groups – seeking to survive as a group 4. Mankind 5. All Living Things 6. The Physical Universe – Matter, energy, space and time 7. Spirits – separate from the physical world and is the source of life itself 8. Infinity Or The Supreme Being –

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The ARC Triangle

This concept teaches that Affinity + Reality + Communication = Understanding In Scientology belief, these three components are viewed as inter-related where when one component is increased or decreased the other two increases or decreases, as well.

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The KRC Triangle

Knowledge + Responsibility + Control These three components work the same way as the ARC Triangle, where increasing or lowering one component will affect similarly to the other two as they are inter-related.

• Symbols In Scientology

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The Scientology Symbol - The letter ‘S’ stands for Scientology; whilst the triangle at the bottom denotes the concept of ARC triangle while the top is denoting KRC triangle.

Dianetics Symbol – Green (big) stripes represent growth and yellow (small) represents life. The four (big) green stripes represent the urge to survive.

Cross of Church of Scientology - The cross's eight points the

eight dynamics in Scientology.

Sea Org Symbol – The Sea Org is the central management organization of Scientology founded by L. Ron Hubbard. It is an organization which implements scientology technology around the world through a fleet of ships and it is known that members of the Sea Org sign an employment contract with the organization for one billion years.

L. Ron Hubbard Symbol – The sign used to authenticate Hubbard’s work.

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Infinite Dianetics Symbol - Symbolizes that Dianetics is the path to infinity to all.

• Controversy & Criticism Scientology is highly criticized for many reasons. The first being their origin story which sounds far too much, like scientific fantasy. The second is Dianetics being derived from Hubbard’s writings. So the critics claim that a mere sci-fi writer turned his fantasy in to a religion by misusing the popularity he gained. The most contemporary issues lie within the Scientology reactions to media and their abusive nature of those who don’t comply with their ideas. It is known that Scientology is a dangerous institution where membership is expected to be life long. If someone wishes to withdraw his/her membership at a later stage, the person is known to get in to serious trouble, sometimes even death. Scientology is also criticized to be a political institution which is more concerned about Imperialism. They are known to be a large, popular business society rather than a religious community. Critics also point out at Scientology’s special attempts to get famous actors, actresses and other elite people to join their organization, as an attempt to gain reputation, publicity and recognition. Being a controversial religion from the offset, the Scientologists ran in to problems with governments (the U.S government in particular) and have managed to come to settlements after a long struggle. Scientology is widely spread in Germany and is known as an International movement, active in 129 countries.

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• Bibliography 

http://www.scientology.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/chronicle/pg008.html

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu

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http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8057_1.html

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http://www.cesnur.org/2005/pa_dericquebourg.htm

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http://www.scientologywedding.org/

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http://www.religiousapartheid.org/critiques/ENG/ThreeExpertises/ba7.htm

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http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/history/history95.html

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbols_of_Scientology

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology

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http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol1.htm

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