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Scientology is A Body Of Beliefs And Related Practices created by American Pulp Fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier Self-help system, Dianetics .1 Hubbard later characterized Scientology as an "applied religious philosophy" and the basis for a new religion. The body of beliefs and related techniques of Scientology not only encompasses A Spiritual Rehabilitation Philosophy And Techniques but it also covers topics such as Morals , Ethics , Detoxification , Education and Management . The , 1953 and is by far the largest organization promoting the practice of Scientology. Today, the Church itself operates under the auspices of the Religious Technology Center , the organization that holds the Trademark s and Copyright s of Dianetics and Scientology and monitors their use by the Church and its affiliates such as WISE or ABLE .2 Scientology and the organizations that promote it have remained highly Controversial since their inception.3.4567. ORIGIN See Also: Timeline of Scientology Scientology's doctrines were established by Hubbard over a period of about 34 years, beginning in 1952 and continuing until his death in January 1986. Most of the basic principles were set out during the 1950s and 1960s. Now described as an "applied religious philosophy," Scientology was at first secular; Hubbard began to characterize Scientology's beliefs and practices as a Religion in 1953, and by 1960 he had redefined it as a "religion by its basic tenets."HCOB 18 April 67 (Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin (HCOB) of 21 June 1960 Revised) "Religious Philosophy and Religious Practice" Hubbard recorded his doctrine in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films that are carefully protected and guarded for posterity. Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection In formulating Scientology, Hubbard appears to have drawn liberally from a wide variety of pre-existing ideas, though he provided little specific citation of, or commentary on, his sources. The Church of Scientology presents Hubbard's work as completely original, reflected in the fact that Scientologists refer to Hubbard himself as "Source." Scientology recapitulates and builds on ideas Hubbard introduced in , as well as the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud , Carl Jung and William Sargant . Sociologist David G. Bromley of Virginia Commonwealth University characterizes Scientology as "a 'quasi-religious therapy' that resembles Freudian 'depth psychology' while also drawing upon Buddhism, Hinduism, and the ancient, heretical offshoot of Christianity known as Gnosticism ." DEFINITION See Also: Scientology Definition Scientology comes from the Latin word "scio" that means "knowing" and the Greek word "logos" meaning "study of." So Scientology means "The study of knowing" or "knowing how to know". Scientology Web Site The word scientology precedes its use by Hubbard and has been used in other places under different definitions. The definition given here is the one as used in Scientology. TEXTS AND LECTURES See Also: Scientology bibliography Scientology is a body of beliefs and related techniques composed of 15 basic books Bridge Publications: The Basics , 15,000 pages of technical writing and over 3,000 lectures http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol1.htm ReligiousTolerance.org: About Scientology. There isn’t a single Scientology book that is the equivalent of the Bible or the Quran but the study of Scientology is achieved through the chronological study of its basic books and lectures.[ http://bpi.goldenageofknowledge.net/index.html Bridge Publications: The Basics: Introduction BELIEFS , circa 1970]] ]] See Also: Scientology beliefs and practices Scientology describes itself as the "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life."9 Scientology philosophy encompasses all aspects of life from the point of view of the spirit; including A Spiritual Rehabilitation Philosophy And Techniques , Morals , Ethics , Detoxification , Education and Management . web site: What is Scientology: foreword According to the Church, the ultimate goal is to get the individual being (the "I", called Thetan ) back to its native state of total freedom, thus gaining control over matter, energy, space, time, thoughts, form, and life. This freed state is called Operating Thetan , or OT for short. Believers in Scientology say that it offers "exact" methods of spiritual counseling to help people achieve awareness of their spiritual existence, while enhancing their effectiveness in the physical world. The exact nature of all of existence is said to be stated in Hubbard's . Scientology practices (called "Technology" or "Tech" in Scientology Terminology ) are structured in sequential series or levels, reflecting Hubbard's belief that rehabilitation takes place on a step-by-step "gradient"; for example, that the negative effects of drugs must be addressed before other issues can be addressed. Scientologists follow a sequence of courses that culminate in the Esoteric advanced strata of Scientology's teachings. This is described as a passage along "the Bridge to Total Freedom," or simply "the Bridge," in which each step of the Bridge promises a little more personal freedom in some particular area of life. Some central tenets of Scientology:
Principles See Also: Scientology beliefs and practices The Parts of Man Scientologists believe that man is composed of three distinguishable parts: Mind, Body and Spirit. The Parts of Man =The Spirit The spirit, is defined in the Scientology Axiom #1 as a true static. A true static does not have mass, motion, wavelength, location in space or in time. But it can perceive and postulate. Scientology Axioms 1 to 10 The spirit is the true form of man and the spirit can exist exterior to and/or independent from a body. The Thetan The spirit in Scientology is represented with the Greek letter 'Theta' (Ɵ) that means 'thought'. The Parts of Man An individual spiritial being in Scientology is called a Thetan. =The Mind The mind in Scientology is described as a bank of mental image pictures. How the mind works. These pictures give the spirit experience and knowledge, and stores the thetan’s postulates. In Scientology, the mind is subdivided in two distinguishable sections: The Parts of the mind == The Analytical Mind According to Scientology, the analytical mind is that part of the mind which is "totally accessible to the spirit. It is the portion of the mind one is aware of using." GLOSSARY OF SCIENTOLOGY & DIANETICS TERMS This can be referred to as the conscious mind. == The Reactive mind See Also: Reactive mind Scientologists believe that the Reactive mind is "that part of the mind which is not accessible to the spirit and it unknowingly affects the spirit; it is mostly composed of moments of pain and unconscious. It is said to operate on an irrational, stimulus-response basis." The Reactive Mind This could be likened to the unconscious or subconscious mind. = The Body The physical biological body of man; Scientology describes the body as a carbon-oxygen machine, the Thetan being the engineer of this machine. Illnesses and injuries to the body are said to be relieved through the use of "assists." Dianetics Dianetics is a substudy of Scientology that deals with the Reactive Mind , the "bank" of traumatic memories known as Engrams which are said to inhibit one's success and happiness.10 ARC triangle See Also: ARC (Scientology) Another basic tenet of Scientology is the three related (and intrinsically spiritual) components that make up successful "livingness" and are the basis of understanding: affinity (emotional responses), reality (an agreement on what is real) and communication (the exchange of ideas). Hubbard called this the "ARC Triangle," noting that all three points are linked to each other. Scientologists utilize ARC as a central principle in their own lives, primarily based upon the belief that improving one aspect of the triangle increases the level of the other two. The ARC triangle is also the lower triangle represented in the Scientology symbol. Bonafine Scientology Website / SCIENTOLOGY SYMBOL KRC triangle See Also: KRC (Scientology) Analogous to the ARC Triangle is a second triangle called the KRC Triangle. KRC stands for Knowledge, Responsibility and Control. Scientologists believe that an area can be made to go more and more right by increasing Knowledge, Responsibility and Control within that area. Many auditing processes and auditor training routines are aimed at increasing an individual's willingness and ability to non-compulsively gain Knowledge of, take Responsibility for and effectively exert Control over elements of his or her environment. This triangle is the upper triangle found in the Scientology symbol. Tone scale See Also: Tone scale The tone scale is a characterization of human mood and behavior by various positions on a scale. The scale ranges from −40 ("Total Failure") to +40 ("Serenity of Being"). Positions on the tone scale are usually designated by an emotion, but Hubbard also described many other things that can be indicated by the tone scale levels, such as aspects of a human's health, mating behavior, survival potential, or ability to deal with truth. The tone scale is frequently used by Scientologists to evaluate humans. According to Scientology, the lower the individual is on the tone scale, the more complex and convoluted one's problems tend to be, and the more care and judgment should be exercised regarding communication and interaction with that individual. Past lives In Dianetics , Hubbard proposed that the cause of "aberrations" in a human mind was an accumulation of pain and unconscious memories of traumatic incidents, some of which predated the life of the human. He extended this view further in Scientology, declaring that thetans have existed for tens of trillions of years (several Orders Of Magnitude greater than what mainstream science generally estimates the Age Of The Universe to be). During that time, Hubbard explains, they have been exposed to a vast number of traumatic incidents, and have made a great many decisions that influence their present state. Hubbard's 1958 book '' Have You Lived Before This Life '' contains descriptions of past lives given by individual Scientologists during auditing sessions. According to an early lecture of Hubbard's, it is, as a practical matter, both impossible and undesirable to recall each and every such event from such vast stretches of time.20th ACC, 7 August 1958, Lecture #19 "The most basic rock of all" As a result, Hubbard's three decade development of Scientology focused on streamlining the process to address only key factors. Hubbard stated that Scientology materials as described in books, tapes, and research notes include a record of everything that was found in the course of his research. According to Hubbard, some of the past traumas may have been deliberately inflicted in the form of "implants" used by extraterrestrial dictatorships such as 2005 in the Free New Mexican (website accessed 04/15/06) The upper secret levels of Scientology See Also: Operating Thetan Space opera in Scientology doctrine Scientologists who have achieved the State of Clear may continue onto the Upper or OT ( Operating Thetan ) Levels. These levels are available by Church invitation only after a review of the candidate's character, ethics and contribution to the Aims of Scientology.11 The contents of these advanced courses are held in strict confidence within the Church and individuals who have read these materials may neither discuss nor disclose what they contain without jeopardizing their standing in the Church. Presently, there are eight such levels, OT I to VIII.12 Church management has promised to release a ninth OT level once certain expansion goals are met.13 The highest level released to date, OT VIII, is only granted at sea, on the Scientology ship, the '' Freewinds '', which was established to provide a "safe, aesthetic, distraction-free environment" where this OT level could be delivered. Description of purpose of the freewinds Despite their confidentiality within the Church, excerpts and descriptions of these materials were published online by a former member in 1995 and then circulated in mainstream media. This occurred after the confidential teachings were submitted as evidence in court cases involving Scientology thus becoming a matter of public record. In the confidential OT levels, Hubbard describes a variety of traumas commonly experienced in past lives, experiences that extend many millions of years into the past. He also explains how to reverse the effects of such traumas. =Xenu and Body Thetans , as depicted by a cartoon in BBC's ''Panorama'' ]] See Also: Xenu Galactic Confederacy Body Thetan Among these advanced teachings, one episode revealed to those who reach OT level III is the story of Xenu and his Galactic Confederacy . Scientologists have argued that the published accounts of the Xenu story and other teachings are distortions of their practice, presented out of context for the purpose of ridiculing their religion. |
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