Scientology beliefs and practices: Encyclopedia II - Scientology beliefs and practices - Beliefs

Scientology beliefs and practices - Beliefs

The purpose of this article is an attempt to explain the beliefs of Scientologists as they practice their religion

For examples of explanations of scientology doctrines as explained by non Scientologists, see Scientology - Outsider Explanations and Scientology Auditing - Outsider Explanations

Scientology beliefs and practices - The Goal of Scientology

The goal of Scientology is stated as being a World without War, without Criminality, and without Insanity, where honest beings have rights, and are free to reach for greater heights.

Scientology beliefs and practices - Core beliefs and central tenets of Scientology

The core beliefs of Scientology are centered on: (reference Frank K Flinn, Doctor of Divinity)^[1]

1. The spiritual nature of men and mankind.
2. The rehabilitation of the human spirit.
3. The desirability of accomplishing such a rehabilitation.
4. The methodology for accomplishing such a rehabilitation.
5. The role of L. Ron Hubbard in developing such a methodology.
6. The inherent value such a methodology has for all mankind.
7. The inherent ability of people to change and improve conditions using Scientology.
8. The inherent responsibility each person has to make the world a better place.

The central tenets of Scientology are based on the belief that a person is an immortal spiritual being (referred to as a thetan) who has a mind and is motivating a body, but is neither of these. A thetan is basically good and trying to survive. No person survives alone, but does so ultimately in coordination with their fellows, and with the greater world around them.

An important theme running through Scientology writings is helping people. Scientology holds that not only can people change -- improving themselves and their conditions, but they can be helped. This is summed up in the phrase: "Something can be done about it", meaning the problems of people and the world. Scientology believes the something should be done about the problems of people and the current condition of the world at large.

Scientology beliefs and practices - The Dynamics

Scientology holds that man's survival depends upon more than just himself. The urge to survive is expanded by Scientology tenets into eight areas. These areas can be pictured as larger and larger areas about one's self.

The eight dynamics are survival as or survival through:

1. One's self
2. Sex. This dynamic has two divisions: (a) the sexual act, and (b) the family unit. In recent years, this dynamic has been changed to include "creativity". [2]
3. Groups
4. Mankind
5. All living things
6. The physical universe
7. Spirits
8. The supreme being, or Infinity

These areas are used to understand one's life, and to improve one's solutions to life by bettering one's understanding of the different areas of life.

As an illustrative example of an out of balance solution, a common dictator will solve the apparent problems of his own country (the 3rd dynamic) in an imbalanced fashion by committing crimes against humanity (the 4th dynamic). As seen in a variety of examples from history, this eventually backfires.

Because Scientology teaches that furthering "survival" is the preferred spiritual path, a common phrase used within the organization is: "The greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics." The idea implies a balance among all areas.

Critics state this goal is designed to ensure all actions made by Scientologists benefit the Church first, before any other accomplishments are taken into consideration. Scientology responds that any decent and honest organization has the right to work for its survival, and maintains true survival for the individual depends on a proper balance of all of the dynamics of Life, which each person must decide for themselves.

The Dynamics do not only encompass survival in the narrow aspect of living one more day, but in the larger aspect of creating a better future.

Scientology beliefs and practices - Reactive mind and engrams

L. Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics states that a person's upsets, limitations and harmful acts can be attributed in part to a portion of his mind of which he is normally unaware, called the reactive mind. This is portion of the mind stores exact impressions, (engrams) of past events which occurred while the person was unconscious or otherwise not completely aware. The common element in these recordings are pain and unconsciousness, which then act to cross associate and cross wire the incidents involved in the mind. Linked by pain, these cross associations interfere with logical thinking and action. These engrams can be restimulated to a greater or lesser degree, when the current situation matches in some way the contents of the engram, especially when a person is tired, causing irrational emotional responses or psychosomatic illnesses. The aware reasonable portion of a person's mind is referred to as the analytical mind.

Scientologists believe that the reactive mind has a malignant effect, causing irrational behavior and creating individual weaknesses as well as undermining efforts to create lasting, prosperous, and sane societies. Past painful incidents are seen as acting as templates for future actions and events, which are often acted out with destructive results.

Dianetics can be said to be Hubbard's effort to investigate and address the pathology of the stimulus response mechanism of the human mind, as seen in the various behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of people. Dianetics posits no physical change of a human body resulting from such stimulus and response, except for the remission of various psychosomatic components of illnesses, along with various phenomena observed in hypnosis. Hubbard stated in the beginning of the book Dianetics that he was not interested in investigating the structure of the brain and body. He was purely interested in people, and the causes of personal suffering.

Scientology beliefs and practices - The Tone Scale

The tone scale is a characterization of human mood and behaviour by various positions on a scale from +40 to -40. For example, 40 on the tone scale (often described as Tone 40) corresponds to "Serenity of Beingness" whilst -40 corresponds to "Total Failure". Negative tones are said by Scientology to be dangerous, as the emotions or moods in the negative range theoretically impair the person's interactions with the world around them.

Scientologists claim that people get to a higher level on the tone scale through "auditing."

For details, see Tone scale.

Scientology beliefs and practices - The Bridge

Scientology bases its teachings on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. The Church of Scientology claims to be one of the first religious organizations to have the vast majority of its founder's writings and thoughts available both in print, as approved by the author, and in over 6,000 taped lectures. Over a period of more than thirty years, Hubbard developed an enormous body of instructions, rules, and regulations for properly "applying" Scientology.

With such a wide variety of material, Hubbard decided to optimize the sequence of study and auditing to the most essential elements in the best sequence. This sequence was revised many times, and was ultimately standardized by Hubbard as the Bridge. Scientology teaches that the Bridge is the best and most correct sequence of auditing, study, and training to follow. This sequence is claimed to mark out the only known way out of what Hubbard calls "the physical universe trap" to full awareness of oneself as a spiritual being and true spiritual freedom. It consists, in large part, of addressing those areas that trap people if left unhandled, in the correct sequence.

While the Bridge is held to be an unalterable sequence that all Scientologists must follow in precise order, there are exceptions in various optional procedures designed to address specific issues.

One such is called Life Repair, where various elements of the Tech are used as needed to help address the ordinary travails of life. Another example is the Student Repair rundown, addressing the upsets and travails one has experienced as a student. There are a large number of such optional repair procedures for a wide number of circumstances. When these are done (as needed) and fully completed to the satisfaction of the person being audited, one then proceeds to the next step of the Bridge.

The original goal of Dianetics was to reach the level of "awareness" known as the state of Clear.' Hubbard originally claimed that a person who obtained the "state of Clear" would find himself able to use "100%" of his mind, and engage in superhuman feats of mental skill.

After the discovery of the Thetan came the development of Scientology, and it became apparent to Hubbard that there were confusions between what was possible with a Clear, and what was possible with the states of being that were being researched.

Achieving Clear is still considered vitally important. Scientology still promotes the State of Clear as a goal to be reached, and Scientology courses are intended to provide a path to the state of Clear, and beyond. Scientology promotes this path as the Bridge to Total Freedom, and it encourages all Scientologists to "move up the Bridge" towards this level of awareness. After becoming Clear, Scientology encourages its adherents to move towards the level of Operating Thetan (OT).

For the most dedicated, moving to higher levels on the Bridge towards total freedom takes precedence over all other duties in Scientology, and all tasks performed by Scientologists are seen as a step towards "moving up the Bridge." However, it is not uncommon to find Scientologists who have dedicated a portion of their time to a variety of social betterment activities, temporarily delaying their progress on the Bridge for the sake of improving society.

One less well known aspect is that the levels above Clear are by invitation only. Anyone can purchase published scientology materials and study them, and work towards the level of Clear. Only those who have actually contributed to the organization are invited to the Advanced levels.

It is at this point that the apparent controversy over the "secret" teachings of Scientology becomes frustrating to anyone outside the organization attempting to study its beliefs. Invariably they do not have access to all of the data, and as such, must guess to fill in the blanks.

Another less well known aspect of the Bridge is that while the lower levels are delivered in auditing sessions with a professional auditor, in the upper levels much of the auditing is done is a specialised set of procedures called "Solo Auditing", where the person is his/her own auditor. Obviously, a person, once expertly trained in these procedures, does not pay fees for being his own auditor.

Critics of Scientology note that the cost of "moving up the Bridge" becomes increasingly greater as one proceeds further into Scientology initiation. This cost, which amounts to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time the upper levels are reached, is the source of enormous tension between Scientology, its critics, and Scientologists who eventually leave the organization before obtaining the state of Clear, or after it. The schedule of donations is comparable to fees for a university education. (See Church of Scientology for additional details of its costs.)

Scientology beliefs and practices - Standard Tech

An integral part of the Bridge is what is known as Standard Tech. Hubbard's effort was to ensure total comprehension of his work, and to see that his writings and instructions were fully, correctly, and competently applied. As a result of this effort, Hubbard developed what became known as the system of Standard Tech. Standard Tech is the system developed and codified by Hubbard in the 1960s at his home at Saint Hill in England. These writings, which are looked upon as scripture in Scientology, are officially known as "Training and Auditing Technology," although among Scientologists, Hubbard's technical writings are referred to as Standard Tech or simply The Tech. They include not only auditing procedures, but also include materials governing training, and the administration of a fully operational Scientology facilty. It is a complete system based on Hubbard's management of Saint Hill as an organization.

Tech works, according to Scientology, it must always be delivered to Scientologists in its pure form, as close to Hubbard's original intent and delivery as possible. To ensure that the Tech is delivered in this fashion, Hubbard incorporated a number of safeguards into the Tech that prevent the Tech from being "altered" or changed from its original form. As the developer of the Tech, Hubbard himself is referred to as Source, and his writings are considered the only true source of the Tech.

Scientology beliefs and practices - Past lives

Much of the controversy surrounding Scientology is a consequence of the doctrine of the immortal spirit in combination with the acceptance of past lives. The logical extension is that if one is immortal, then one did not always have past lives in human form, only in historically documented cultures, or only on planet Earth. In fact, given a truly immortal being, and immense periods of time, unusual coincidences between events widely separated in time and space would easily attract more attention and notoriety than the commonplace and often boring lifetime of, for example, a serf or a peasant. A truly immortal being might not even be restricted to living his or her existence in a single universe.

Often, a newcomer will become fascinated with speculations about who or what he was in a past life. Scientology does not engage in spiritualist readings to tell or find out for someone who or what he was. The Scientology auditor's code prevents an auditor from telling or suggesting to a person any answers to these questions. Rather, auditing will bring these things to light as a positive if secondary benefit of the procedure.

Another aspect of past lives is that, with "life times that number like grains of sand on the beach," almost any combination of circumstances may have occurred in the past, with any number or combination of people, and as such many things will repeat to one degree or another. You could have hundreds of lifetimes as a pirate, housewife, tribesman, or in a world on the brink of a major war.

What this means is that while a person may be pleased or thrilled or displeased or horrified with a particular past life, ultimately the significance of past lives is not as important as you would think at first. What is more important is releasing the force of impact of events and amnesia about past events that continue to compel one into a specific aberrant behavior or attitude, even when that original incident is long forgotten.

Many Scientologists report recalling past lives through auditing. Scientology claims that through auditing, ultimately anything that has happened to one was something the person somehow himself created or allowed and that they need to take responsibility to be free of its burden. A person must be willing to confront and be responsible for the situation he finds himself in. Thus Scientologists tend to have strong feelings regarding personal responsibility for the world around them, especially since they believe they will come back to live in the world they helped create.

Critics call this belief a pseudoscience, stating the theory seems to be tailored so it is not falsifiable by any observations of the real world. They point out that whatever reaction a person has can be ascribed to some previously unknown incident in one of the many past lives.

See also the general article on Reincarnation

Scientology beliefs and practices - Secret levels and writings

The church acknowledges that at the higher levels of initiation (OT levels), teachings are imparted which may be considered "mystical" and potentially harmful to unprepared readers. These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels. The secrets are about methods, techniques, skills, and the context which underlies them in order to accomplish a specific spiritual goal. They are not intended for those who would abuse them for purposes of personal entertainment or other non-spiritual reasons.

Certain materials have been made confidential. Some are said to have been made confidential because it was found they were subject to abuse when made freely available, even when students should have known better. Other materials are said to require a certain amount of expertise, skill, and understanding before they can be used correctly and properly applied. Therefore certain prerequisites are in place before these particular materials are made available to the parishoner or student auditor.

Some information has been claimed to be confidential, when in fact it is not, and so a large amount of information that was not previously available has been published and made broadly available in recent years. A large number of recorded lectures have been made available in multiple languages.

One of the premises of the church is that the OT levels are meant to be an empirical subject, something one "discovers for oneself" through processing (auditing).

The church claims that if a person reads "distorted" versions of the higher level teachings one is likely to question one's own experience when "in session" adding time to the process in order to sort matter out fully and thereby sabotaging the process. According to the church, it opposes the distribution of the "confidential" levels in order to protect them (and the Scientologists attaining them) from contamination by outside sources.

The "Hidden Truth" about the nature of the universe is taught to the most advanced Scientologists in a series of courses known as the Advanced Levels. These are the levels above "Clear" and their contents are held in strict confidence within Scientology. The Advanced Levels are also known as the eight Pre-OT (Operating Thetan) levels. The highest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds, and is said to be the first true OT level. Since being entered into evidence in several court cases beginning in the 1980s, synopses and excerpts of these secret teachings are said have appeared in numerous publications.

Much of the controversy surrounding Scientology is a consequence of the doctrine of the immortal spirit in combination with the acceptance of past lives. The logical extension is that if one is immortal, then one did not always have past lives in human form -- only in primitive or semi-cultures, or on planet Earth. In fact, given a truly immortal being, and immense periods of time, unusual coincidences between events widely separated in time would easily attract more attention and notoriety than the commonplace and often boring lifetime of, for example, a serf or a peasant. A truly immortal being might not even be restricted to living his or her existence in a single universe.

Scientologists argue that published accounts of the Xenu story and other colorful teachings are pulled out of context for the purpose of ridiculing their religion. Journalists and critics counter that Xenu is part of a much wider Scientology belief in past lives on other planets, some of which has been public knowledge for decades. For instance, Hubbard's 1958 book Have You Lived Before This Life? documents past lives described by individual Scientologists during auditing sessions. These included memories of being "deceived into a love affair with a robot decked out as a beautiful red-haired girl", being run over by a Martian bishop driving a steamroller, being transformed into an intergalactic walrus that perished after falling out of a flying saucer, and recalling life as "a very happy being who strayed to the planet Nostra 23,064,000,000 years ago."

Although reliable statistics are not available, it is fair to say most Scientologists are not at a sufficiently high level on "the bridge" to learn about Xenu. Therefore, while knowledge of Xenu is claimed by critics to be crucial to the highest level church teachings, it cannot be regarded as a core belief of common Scientologists. On the other hand, Scientology literature does include many references to extraterrestrial past lives and internal publications are often illustrated with pictures of spaceships and oblique references to catastrophic events that happened "75 million years ago".

see also Space opera in Scientology doctrine.

Scientology beliefs and practices - Scientology and the Supreme Being

Scientology acknowledges the existence of a Supreme Being and believes perception and worship of God is a personal matter. The Church of Scientology is non-denominational. Scientologists worship God as they choose to.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Beliefs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki