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{{Scientology sidebar}}
Followers of the ] movement maintain a wide variety of beliefs and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an ], spiritual being (]) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable ], some of which, preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in ]. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing ] will eventually come across and recount a ].


Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. Scientologists also believe that people have innate, yet suppressed, power and ability, which can be regained if ] of unwanted behavioral patterns and discomforts.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Road To Total Freedom|series=Panorama|publisher=BBC|airdate=April 27, 1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Farley|first = Robert|title = Scientology nearly ready to unveil Super Power|publisher = St. Petersburg Times|date=May 6, 2006|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/06/Tampabay/Scientology_nearly_re.shtml/|access-date=2008-12-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705182736/http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/06/Tampabay/Scientology_nearly_re.shtml/ |archive-date=July 5, 2006}}</ref><ref name=Gutjahr>{{cite journal |jstor=30227336 | title = Reference: The State of the Discipline: Sacred Texts in the United States | journal = Book History | first = Paul C. | last = Gutjahr | volume = 4 | pages = 335–370 | doi=10.1353/bh.2001.0008 | year=2001| s2cid = 162339753 }}</ref> Believers reach their full potential "when they understand themselves in their true relationship to the physical universe and the Supreme Being."<ref name=Gutjahr/> There have been many scholarly studies of Scientology, and the books are freely available in bookshops, churches, and most libraries.<ref name=Gutjahr/>
{{ScientologySeries}}

:''This article examines the beliefs and practices of ] as taught by the ]. For variants, see ].''
The Church of Scientology believes that "Man is basically good, that he is seeking to survive, (and) that his survival depends on himself and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe", as stated in the Creed of the Church of Scientology.{{sfn|Lewis|2009|p={{pn|date=January 2022}}}}


== Beliefs == == Beliefs ==


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


{{See also|Thetan}}
For examples of explanations of scientology doctrines as explained by non Scientologists, see ] and ]
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=A thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the identity which IS the individual. One does not ''have'' a thetan, something one keeps somewhere apart from oneself; he ''is'' a thetan.|source=— The Church of Scientology, 1992 {{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} }}


Hubbard taught that there were three "Parts of Man", the spirit, mind, and body.{{sfnm|1a1=Westbrook|1y=2019|1p=21|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=51}} The first of these is a person's "true" inner self, a "theta being" or "thetan".{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1pp=451-452|2a1=Lewis|2y=2009|2p=5|3a1=Thomas|3y=2021|3p=52}} While the thetan is akin to the idea of the soul or spirit found in other traditions,{{sfnm|1a1=Bainbridge|1a2=Stark|1y=1980|1p=133|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=451|3a1=Melton|3y=2009|3p=22}} Hubbard avoided terms like "soul" or "spirit" because of their cultural baggage.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=46}} Hubbard stated that "the thetan ''is'' the person. You are YOU ''in'' a body."{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=52}} According to Hubbard, the thetan uses the mind as a means of controlling the body.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=54}} Scientology teaches that the thetan usually resides within the human skull but can also leave the body, either remaining in close contact with it or being separated altogether.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=53}}
=== The Goal of Scientology ===


According to Scientology, a person's thetan has existed for trillions of years,{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} having lived countless lifetimes,{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=21}} long before entering a physical body it may now inhabit.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=53}} In their original form, the thetans were simply energy, separate from the physical universe.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} Each thetan had its own "Home Universe", and it was through the collision of these that the physical MEST universe emerged.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} Once ] was created, Scientology teaches, the thetans began experimenting with human form, ultimately losing knowledge of their origins and becoming trapped in physical bodies.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} Scientology also maintains that a series of "universal incidents" have undermined the thetans' ability to recall their origins.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}}
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.


Hubbard taught that thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure.{{Sfn|DeChant|Jorgenson|2003|pp=221–236}} The universe has no independent reality but derives its apparent reality from the fact that thetans agree it exists.<ref name=Chryssides /> Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation rather than their original state of spiritual purity.{{Sfn|DeChant|Jorgenson|2003|pp=221–236}} Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.<ref name=Chryssides />
=== Core beliefs and central tenets of Scientology ===


According to L. Ron Hubbard's 1952 book '']'', published in 1952, there are two entities housed by the human body: a genetic entity (whose purpose is to carry on the evolutionary line) and a "Thetan" or consciousness "that has the capacity to separate from body and mind." According to Hubbard, "In man's long evolutionary development the Thetan has been trapped by the engrams formed at various stages of embodiment." Scientology training is aimed at ] the person of all ], thus creating an "]". "Among the abilities of the Operating Thetan is the soul's capacity to leave and operate apart from the body."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Melton | first = J. Gordon | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology | title = Scientology, Church of. | edition = 5th | year = 2001 | publisher = Gale Group | volume = 2 | location = Detroit | pages = 1362–1364}}</ref>
The core beliefs of Scientology are centered on: (reference Frank K Flinn, Doctor of Divinity){{ref|Flinn}}


People are viewed as spiritual beings that have minds and bodies, and a person's "spiritual essence" is called the "Thetan".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pretorius |first=S.P. |date=2006 |title=The concept 'salvation' in the Church of Scientology |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=313–327}}</ref> Scientology teaches that "a thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else." According to the doctrine, "one does not have a thetan, he is a thetan."{{Sfn|Bromley|2009}}
# The spiritual nature of men and mankind.
# The rehabilitation of the human spirit.
# The desirability of accomplishing such a rehabilitation.
# The methodology for accomplishing such a rehabilitation.
# The role of ] in developing such a methodology.
# The inherent value such a methodology has for all mankind.
# The inherent ability of people to change and improve conditions using Scientology.
# The inherent responsibility each person has to make the world a better place.


=== Physical universe ===
The '''central tenets of Scientology''' are based on the belief that a person is an immortal ] (referred to as a ''thetan'') who has a ] and is motivating a ], 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.


Hubbard referred to the physical universe as the ], meaning "Matter, Energy, Space and Time".{{sfnm|1a1=Bromley|1y=2009|1p=91|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=52}} In Scientology's teaching, this MEST universe is separate from the theta universe, which consists of life, spirituality, and thought.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=52}} Scientology teaches that the MEST universe is fabricated through the agreement of all thetans (souls or spirits) that it exists,{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=52}} and is therefore an illusion that is only given reality through the actions of thetans themselves.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}}
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.


=== The Dynamics === === Exteriorization ===
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.


In Scientology, "exteriorization" refers to the thetan leaving the physical body, if only for a short time, during which it is not encumbered by the physical universe and exists in its original state.{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=21}} Scientology aims to "exteriorize" the thetan from the body so that the thetan remains close to the body and capable of controlling its actions, but not inside of it, where it can confuse "beingness with mass" and the body.{{sfnm|1a1=Urban|1y=2012|1p=354|2a1=Thomas|2y=2021|2p=53}} In this way, it seeks to ensure the thetan is unaffected by the trauma of the physical universe while still retaining full control of the mind and body.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=53}} Some Scientologists claim that they experienced exteriorization while auditing.{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=21}}
The eight dynamics are survival as or survival through:
# One's self
# 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".
# Groups
# Mankind
# All living things
# The physical universe
# Spirits
# The supreme being, or Infinity


One of Scientology's goals is to free the thetan from the confines of the physical ],{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=52}} thus returning it to its original state.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=53}} This idea of liberating the spiritual self from the physical universe has drawn comparisons with ].{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=52}} Although Hubbard's understanding of Buddhism during the 1950s was limited,{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=232}} Scientological literature has presented its teachings as the continuation and fulfillment of ]'s ideas.{{sfn|Grünschloß|2004|p=429}} In one publication, Hubbard claimed to be both ], the future ] prophesied in some forms of ], and the ].{{sfnm|1a1=Grünschloß|1y=2004|1p=429|2a1=Grünschloß|2y=2009|2p=233|3a1=Bigliardi|3y=2017}} Some Scientologists regard Hubbard as Maitreya.{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=23}} The concept of the thetan has also been observed as being very similar to those promulgated in various mid-20th century UFO religions.{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=231}}
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.


According to ], author of '']'', exteriorization "is the sense that one has actually left his physical being behind".{{r|wright|page=14}}
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.


{{Anchor|Past lives}}
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.


=== Immortality ===
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.


Scientology teaches the existence of ];{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=449|2a1=Lewis|2y=2012|2p=137}} Hubbard taught that each individual has experienced "past lives", although generally avoided using the term "reincarnation" itself.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=449|2a1=Lewis|2y=2012|2p=137}} The movement claims that once a body dies, the thetan enters another body which is preparing to be born.{{sfn|Bromley|2009|p=91}} It rejects the idea that the thetan will be born into a non-human animal on Earth.{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=233}} In ''Have You Lived Before This Life?'', Hubbard recounted accounts of past lives stretching back 55 billion years, often on other planets.{{sfn|Urban|2012|p=349}}
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.


At death, the spirit will leave the body: "Life and personality go on. The physical part of the organism ceases to function."<ref name=DaSTD>''Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary''.</ref> Scientology believes in the "immortality of each individual's spirit," therefore making death not a significant worry. The spirit acquires another body necessary for growth and survival. The primary goal is to achieve an individual's true identity.{{r|zellner98}}
=== Reactive mind and engrams ===


According to Scientology doctrine, salvation is achieved through "clearing" engrams and ], the source of human misery, through the auditing process. Salvation is limited to the current life and there is no "final salvation or damnation", author Richard Holloway writes. "Life is not a one-shot deal. There is only the eternal return of life after life."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holloway |first1=Richard |title=A Little History of Religion |publisher=Yale University Press |date=September 20, 2016 |isbn=978-0300208832 }}</ref> According to Scientology beliefs, "the individual comes back. He has a responsibility for what goes on today since he will experience it tomorrow."<ref>{{cite news|title=Scientology: the facts|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9370678/What-is-Scientology.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9370678/What-is-Scientology.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/reincarnation.html|title=Position on Reincarnation & Past Lives: Official Church of Scientology|work=scientology.org}}</ref>
L. Ron Hubbard's book '']'' 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, ('']s'') 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 ]es. The aware reasonable portion of a person's mind is referred to as the ''analytical mind''.


According to Scientology beliefs, Scientology itself is a blend of science and spirituality, with a belief in an immortal spirit and in improving that spirit here on Earth using Scientology's methods. Scientologists do not typically dwell on Heaven or Hell or the afterlife, instead focusing on the spirit. Many Scientologists also belong to other churches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/inside-the-utah-church-of-scientology |title=Inside the Utah Church of Scientology |last=Carlisle |first=Randall |access-date=2015-11-18 |date=2015-10-31 }}</ref>
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.


In the Scientology book, ''A History of Man'', Hubbard discusses that a human's past experiences make up that person's present identity. These include experiences such as atoms, seaweed, plankton, and clams, pointing to the belief in recurring lives.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sampling of the New Religions: Four Groups Described |journal=International Review of Mission |year=1978 |last=Weldon |first=John |volume=67 |issue=268 |pages=407–26 |doi=10.1111/j.1758-6631.1978.tb01274.x}}</ref>
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.


===The Tone Scale=== === Eight dynamics ===
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.


Scientology emphasizes the importance of "survival", subdividing into eight classifications called "the eight dynamics". The optimum solution to any problem is the one that brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics. The eight dynamics are:{{r|wallis|page=39}}{{sfn|Urban|2011|p=67}}{{r|hubbard-fot|pages=37–41}}
Scientologists claim that people get to a higher level on the tone scale through "auditing."


# The first dynamic is the urge toward survival of self.
For details, see ].
# The second dynamic is the urge toward survival through sex or procreation. There are two subdivisions: (a) the sexual act itself and (b) the family unit, including the rearing of children.
# The third dynamic is the urge toward survival through groups, for example a school, a club, a team, a town, a nation.
# The fourth dynamic is the urge toward survival through all mankind.
# The fifth dynamic is the urge toward survival through life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish, and vegetation.
# The sixth dynamic is the urge toward survival as the physical universe, which is called ] (for matter, energy, space, time).
# The seventh dynamic is the urge toward survival through spirits or as a spirit. Anything spiritual would come under the seventh dynamic.
# The eighth dynamic is the urge toward survival through the Supreme Being or infinity.


Hubbard introduced the ] in the mid-1950s as a religious symbol for Scientology. The eight points of the cross symbolize the eight dynamics.{{sfn|Urban|2011|p=67}}
=== The Bridge ===


=== Supreme being ===
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.


The Church of Scientology states that it has no set ] on God and allows individuals to come to their own understanding of God.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/what-is-the-concept-of-god-in-scientology.html|title=Does Scientology have a concept of God?|work=scientology.org}}</ref> In Scientology, "vastly more emphasis is given to the godlike nature of the and to the workings of the human mind than to the nature of God."{{r|zellner98}} Hubbard did not clearly define God in Scientology. When pressed about their belief, Scientologists mention the "]" which they say is the "God dynamic".<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Images of Religions and Religious History in the Works of L. Ron Hubbard |first=Marco |last=Frenschkowski |title=Handbook of Scientology |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=14 |year=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004330542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_dfzDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 |p=135}}</ref>
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.


Scientologists affirm the existence of a ] without defining or describing its nature. L. Ron Hubbard wrote in his book '']'', "No culture in the history of the world, save the thoroughly depraved and expiring ones, has failed to affirm the existence of a Supreme Being. It is an ] that men without a strong and lasting faith in a Supreme Being are less capable, less ethical and less valuable."{{r|hubbard-sos|p=113}} Instead of defining God, members assert that reaching higher states of enlightenment will enable individuals to make their own conclusions about the Supreme Being.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ashcraft-Eason |first1=Lillian |last2=Martin |first2=Darnise C. |last3=Oladermo |first3=Oyeronke |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4kBbOOWRDsC&q=scientology&pg=PA255 |title=Women and New and Africana Religions |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |access-date=2016-04-24 |isbn=9780275991562 }}</ref>
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.


=== Tone scale ===
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 tone scale is a key construct throughout Scientology and is used to gauge someone's value in society or determine how best to control or communicate with someone. Hubbard introduced the tone scale with his 1951 book '']'' and expanded it since then. The concept is a vertical scale of points from −40.0 to +40.0, each representing an emotion or other mental concept. The midpoint is 0.0, labelled "body death". From 0.0 upward is the ''emotional'' tone scale, where points such as apathy, grief, fear, anger, boredom, contentment, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and serenity of beingness at the top are labeled. Points below 0.0 are mental concepts rather than emotions, such as shame, blame, regret, sacrifice, hiding, and total failure. In common Scientology parlance, a person high on the tone scale is called ''uptone'' or ''high toned'', and one low on the tone scale is called ''downtone'' or ''low toned''.<ref name=rs2019>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/scientology-children-second-generation-846732/ |title=Children of Scientology: Life After Growing Up in an Alleged Cult |date=June 24, 2019 |first=Ash |last=Sanders |publisher=]}}</ref>{{r|wright|pages=73–4}}{{r|hubbard-techdict|pages=253,443,484–5}}{{r|hubbard-admindict|pages=526–527}}
The original goal of Dianetics was to reach the level of "awareness" known as the state of ''].' 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.


According to Hubbard, one's tone affects a person's attitude, their ability to relate with others, and even body odors. The higher on the scale, the more emotionally alive someone would be. Lower tones, Hubbard asserted, should be exiled from society.{{r|reitman|pages=48–49}} During the ], the auditor is trained to observe the client's emotional state using the tone scale, to raise an individual on the tone scale and improve his abilities.{{r|malko|page=109–11}}{{sfnm|1a1=Harley|1a2=Kieffer|1y=2009|1pp=194–199}}
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.


=== ARC and KRC triangles ===
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).


{{multiple image|perrow = 3|total_width=300
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.
| image1 = Scientology Logo.svg
| image2 = KRC Triangle 1.svg
| image3 = ARC Triangle 1.jpg
| footer = Scientology "S and double triangle" symbol, KRC triangle, and ARC triangle
}}
{{Quote box|width=300px|quote=Without reality or some agreement, affinity and communication are absent. Without communication, there can be no affinity or reality. It is only necessary to improve one corner of this very valuable triangle in order to improve the remaining two corners. The easiest corner to improve is Communication: improving one's ability to communicate raises at the same time his affinity for others and life, as well as expands the scope of his agreements.{{br}}—L. Ron Hubbard{{r|hubbard-notl|p=147}} }}


The Scientology symbol is made up of two triangles with an "S" connecting them. The top triangle is called the KRC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of knowledge, responsibility, and control. The lower triangle is called the ARC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of affinity, reality, and communication, and all three together represent understanding. The large connecting "S" stands for "Scientology".{{r|hubbard-admindict|page=462}}<ref>{{citation |title=HCOPL 18 Feb 1972 : The Top Triangle |date=February 18, 1972 |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard}} in {{cite book |title=The Management Series Volume 2 |pages=232–233 |year=1991 |isbn=0884046737 |publisher=] |author=]}}</ref>
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.


Scientology teaches that improving one of the three aspects of the KRC or ARC triangle will increase the other two. In the ARC triangle, communication is held to be the most important.<ref name="GA176">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=176}}</ref>{{r|hubbard-notl|pp=22,33,147}}
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.


Among Scientologists, the letters ARC are used as an affectionate greeting in personal communication, for example, at the end of a letter.<ref name="turmoilcook">{{cite web |url= http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/01/scientology_in_3.php |title=Scientology in Turmoil: Debbie Cook's E-Mail, Annotated |last= Ortega|first=Tony |author-link=Tony Ortega |website=] |date=January 6, 2012 |access-date=January 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214000535/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/01/scientology_in_3.php |archive-date=February 14, 2014 }}</ref> Social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC&nbsp;– in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity.<ref name="GA177">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}}</ref> These can take the form of ''overts''&nbsp;– harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission&nbsp;– which are usually followed by ''withholds''&nbsp;– efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.<ref name="GA177" />
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.


=== Morals and ethics ===
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 ] for additional details of its costs.)
{{Main|Scientology ethics and justice}}


Scientology teaches that progress on ] requires and enables attaining high moral and ethical standards.<ref name="BridgebyNeusner"/> According to Hubbard, the goal of ethics is to remove impediments to survival, and ethics is essentially a tool to "get technology in", meaning Scientology's use of the term technology.{{r|Kent|p=8}} ] describes Scientology ethics as "a peculiar brand of ] that uniquely benefitted {{nbsp}} In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology. In this 'ethical' environment, Scientology would be able to impose its courses, philosophy, and ']' – its so-called technology – onto society."<ref name="Kent">{{cite journal|last=Kent|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen A. Kent|date=September 2003|title=Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study |journal=]|publisher=]|volume=8|issue=1|url=https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0004/article/view/3725|access-date=May 21, 2006 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629063543/http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/kent3.html|archive-date=June 29, 2006 |doi=10.17192/mjr.2003.8.3725}}</ref>
=== Standard Tech ===


=== Gender and sexuality ===
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 ] 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.
{{Main|Scientology and gender|Scientology and sex|Scientology and sexual orientation}}


Gender and sexuality have been controversial issues in Scientology's history.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=78}} Women may become ministers and rise through the church ranks in the same manner as men.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=73}} Hubbard's writing makes androcentric assumptions through its use of language.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=71}} Critics of Scientology say that Hubbard was a misogynist.{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=75}} Hubbard's use of language was also ].{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=71}} He described same-sex attraction as a ] and physical illness, rendering homosexuals "extremely dangerous to society".{{sfn|Thomas|2021|p=76}} Various Free Zone Scientologists have alleged that they encountered ].{{sfn|Thomas|2021|pp=76–78}} The church's stance on same-sex sexuality has drawn criticism from gay rights activists.{{sfn|Cusack|2009|p=399}}
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.


=== Past lives === === Science ===


The church considers itself scientific, although this belief has no basis in ].<ref name=Rothstein2014>Rothstein, Mikael. "Science and Religion in the New Religions." Oxford Handbooks Online. 2009-09-02. Oxford University Press. Date of access .Jan 29, 2014, http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195369649.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195369649-e-5</ref> According to religious scholar ]<ref name=Rothstein2014/> Scientologists believe that "all religious claims can be verified through experimentation".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRESDAAAQBAJ&q=scientology+religion&pg=PA110 |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements |isbn=9780195369649 |access-date=2016-06-10 |quote=The word "science" appears in the very name of the Church of Scientology, and indeed, this religion is, in many ways, based on notions and behavior derived from different scientific realms. Scientology considers itself to be scientific in the sense that all religious claims can be verified through experimentation, and its believed that the logos of Scientology was derived from through in-depth scientific methods. |date=2008-07-17 |publisher=Oup USA }}</ref> Scientologists believe that their religion was derived through scientific methods, that Hubbard found knowledge through studying and thinking, not through ]. The "science" of ], however, was ].<ref name=Rothstein2014/> Rothstein also writes that there is a possibility that Scientology partly owes its existence to the conflict with the conventional scientific community, which hindered Hubbard's original intention.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements |volume=1 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |publisher=OUP USA |year=2008 |isbn=9780195369649 }}</ref> Religious scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen notes that Scientology differs from the ] in that Scientology has become increasingly ], while true science normally compares competing ] and ].<ref name=Rothstein2014/>
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.


Hubbard initially claimed and insisted that Dianetics was based on the scientific method. He taught that "the scientific sensibilities over into the spiritual realities one encounters via auditing on the ]." Scientologists commonly prefer to describe Hubbard's teachings with words such as knowledge, technology, and workability rather than belief or faith. Hubbard described Dianetics and Scientology as "technologies" based on his claim of their "scientific precision and workability." Hubbard attempted to "break down the barrier between scientific (objective, external) and religious (subjective, internal) forms of knowledge." Hubbard describes Scientology's ] as "radically subjective: Nothing in Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it and it is true according to your observation." This is a type of self-legitimation through science which is also found in other religions such as ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Walking in Ron's Footsteps: "Pilgrimage" Sites of the Church of Scientology |journal=Numen |year=2016 |last=Westbrook |first=Donald A. |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=71–94 |issn=0029-5973 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341409 }}</ref>
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.


Sociologist ] cites Scientology's origins in the ]s of ] and "harmony" with scientific ]. Science fiction, viewed to work for and against the purposes of science, has contributed to the birth of ], including Scientology. While it promotes science, it distorts it as well. Science fiction writer ] based the early development of Dianetics and Scientology on a novel based on ], a ] and therapy program created by Alfred Korzybski to cure personal and social issues.<ref>Bainbridge, William Sims. "Science and Religion: The Case of Scientology." In David G. Bromley and Phillip E. Hammond, eds. The Future of New Religious Movements. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1987, 59-79.</ref>
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.


Scientologists believe that Hubbard "discovered the ] truths that form their ] through research," thus leading to the idea that Scientology is science. Hubbard created what the church would call a "spiritual technology" to advance the goals of Scientology. According to the church, "Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life." The underlying claims are that Scientology is "exact" and "certain".{{r|wright|page=9}} ], writing for '']'' in 2011, said that Scientology's methods lacked enough study to qualify as a science, but that the story of ] and Scientology's other ]s were no less tenable than other religions.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Real Science behind Scientology|last=Shermer|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Shermer|date=2011-11-01|journal=Scientific American|volume=305|issue=5|pages=94|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1111-94|pmid = 22125870|bibcode=2011SciAm.305d..94S}}</ref>
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.


B. Hubbard, J. Hatfield, and J. Santucci compare Scientology's view of humanity to the ] school of ], saying that both have been described as "the most scientific" among new and traditional religions, respectively. They cite technical language and claims that teachings were developed through observation and experimentation. They also emphasize that many investigators and researchers consider Scientology to be a ] because of its absolute and meta-] goals.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hubbard|first1=Benjamin Jerome|author2=John T. Hatfield|author3=James A. Santucci|title=An Educator's Classroom Guide to America's Religious Beliefs and Practices|date=2007|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|isbn=9781591584094|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWBIuX7TPk8C&q=scientific&pg=PA90}}</ref>
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.


Scholar ] stated that Scientology is an example of the phenomenon of both the "scientification of religion" and the "sacralization" of science. Donald A. Westbrook argues that there is an "ongoing and dialectical relationship" between religion and science in Hubbard's teachings.{{r|lewis2017b|page=28}}
Critics call this belief a ], stating the theory seems to be tailored so it is not ] 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.


=== Rejection of psychology and psychiatry ===
See also the general article on ]


{{Further|Scientology and psychiatry|Citizens Commission on Human Rights}}
=== Secret levels and writings ===
] demonstration]]


The psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories in the early 1950s.<ref name="Mieszkowskii"/> Since then, Hubbard was vehemently opposed to ] and ]. Scientologists view psychiatry as a barbaric and corrupt profession and consider mental illness a fraud.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Paulette | last=Cooper | author-link=Paulette Cooper | title=Scientology Versus Medicine in Scandal of Scientology | publisher =Web Edition| year=1997 | url= http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/tsos/sos-16.html }}</ref><ref name="Mieszkowskii">{{Cite web | last=Mieszkowskii | first=Katharine | title=Scientology's War on Psychiatry | work=] | date=July 1, 2005 | url=https://www.salon.com/2005/07/01/sci_psy/ |url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235137/https://www.salon.com/2005/07/01/sci_psy/ | archive-date=March 6, 2023 }}</ref> They allege that psychiatrists were responsible for the ], ] and ].{{r|wright|page=294}}
The church acknowledges that at the higher levels of initiation ('']s''), 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.


Scientology established the anti-psychiatry lobby group ] (CCHR) which operates an exhibit '']''.{{r|wright|pages=293-4}} CCHR has helped legislators draft bills, though bills in Florida and Utah failed which would have made it a crime for school teachers to suggest to parents that their child might be suffering from a mental health condition.{{r|wright|pages=295}}
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 '']'', 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 ] 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 ] 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 ] decked out as a beautiful red-haired girl", being run over by a ] ] driving a ], being transformed into an intergalactic ] 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 ].


<!-- === The creed of Scientology === -->

=== Scientology and the Supreme Being ===

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


== Practices == == Practices ==


{{See also|L. Ron Hubbard|Scientology bibliography}}
===Daily Practices===
The church makes it clear that Hubbard is considered the sole source of Dianetics and Scientology: "The Scientology religion is based exclusively upon L. Ron Hubbard's research, writings and recorded lectures – all of which constitute the Scriptures of the religion."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |last2=Hammer |first2=Olav |title=The Invention of Sacred Tradition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 }}</ref> His work, recorded in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films, is archived for posterity.<ref>{{cite news | first = Robert W. | last = Welkos |author2=Sappell, Joel | title = Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientologysided062490,0,7493097.story | work = ] | date = June 24, 1990 | access-date = 2008-10-26 }}</ref> The ] holds "the ultimate ecclesiastical authority and the pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's religious technologies."<ref>{{harvnb|Urban|2011|p=}}, "... pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's technology."</ref>


Individuals applying Hubbard's techniques who are not officially connected to the Church of Scientology are considered part of the "]". Some of these individuals were litigated against for using and modifying the practices for their own use and that of others, thereby infringing the law on ], ], or ]s.
Churches of Scientology are busy places. Courses are taught days, evenings and weekends. Auditing goes on during many of a church's public hours. This is a contrast to the Sunday Church Service found in many Christian Churches. Scientology is an applied spiritual philosophy based on Mr. Hubbard's writings (perhaps as many as 25 million words); thus, education is a key element of what goes on in Scientology Churches. Parishoners can attend Sunday Service, though this has no special merit in Scientology scriptures. They often study auditing part time or full time in the evenings, weekends, or during the day. Introductory courses usually run from a day or evening to a few weeks. Part-time students of professional level courses maintain a schedule of 12.5 hours per week, while full time students might be in class as much as 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will often take part in a variety of groups and church activities, including artist associations, charity events and anti-drug crusades, among others.


=== Contracts and legal waivers ===
Scientologists do not have any dietary restrictions, aside from good sense and cultural preferences. They are not opposed to modern medicine (excluding ]), can receive blood transfusions, and receive routine medical care. A person is encouraged to maintain health using good sense. Parishioners must seek medical treatment for medical conditions before being accepted for spiritual counseling.


The Church of Scientology requires that all members sign a ] which covers their relationship with the Church of Scientology before engaging in Scientology services.<ref>{{cite news|last = Friedman|first = Roger|title = Will Scientology Celebs Sign 'Spiritual' Contract?|publisher = FOX News|date=September 3, 2003|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/will-scientology-celebs-sign-spiritual-contract|access-date=2008-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Touretzky|first = David S.|title = A Church's Lethal Contract|publisher = Razor Magazine|date=December 1, 2003|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Scientology/ReleaseForms/archive/razor-article-2003.html|access-date=2008-12-07}}</ref>{{r|reitman|p=248}}
They are outspoken against the use of street drugs. There is no specific prohibition against social use of alcohol, as Hubbard himself mentions use as a young man. However, alcohol abuse is a concern. There are no particular prohibitions against hair coloring, music styles or body piercings. Maintaining good appearance is considered an exercise in good manners. In the Sea Org, perfume and even perfumed soaps or washing powders are frowned upon, especially in areas dealing with service to the public.

There are no specific daily rituals or prayers.

=== Scientology Holidays ===

The three major holidays celebrated in the Church are L. Ron Hubbard's Birthday in March; the Anniversary of the first publication of Dianetics in May; and a holiday honoring all auditors, called Auditor's Day, in September. Most official celebrations are scheduled on weekends as a convenience to parishoners. Scientologists also celebrate secular holidays such as New Year's Eve, and other local celebrations. For example, many exchange gifts at Christmas where this holiday is popular.


=== Auditing === === Auditing ===
{{Main|Auditing (Scientology)}}


The central practice of Scientology, and Dianetics before it, is an activity known as ''auditing'' (listening) which, Scientologists claim, seeks to elevate an adherent to a State of ''Clear'', one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an ''auditor'' addresses a series of questions to a ''preclear'', observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An important element in all forms of auditing is to not to suggest answers to the ''preclear'', and invalidate or degrade what the ''preclear'' says in response. It is of utmost importance the auditor create a truly safe and distraction free environment for the session. The central practice of Scientology is an activity known as ], which seeks to elevate an adherent to a state of ], one of freedom from the influences of the ]. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an "auditor" addresses a series of questions to a ], observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An essential element in all forms of auditing is not to suggest answers to the preclear or invalidate or degrade what the preclear says in response. It is of utmost importance that the auditor create a safe and distraction-free session environment.

This practice is one of the controversial aspects of Scientology as auditing sessions are permanently recorded in the form of hand written notes in ''Preclear Folders''. Practical concerns prohibit a stenographic approach to the notes, which must include a variety of technical details and observations.

Auditing is believed by Scientologists to be a procedure where a person is establishing the truth about something in their own universe and the world at large on a "gradient" scale. Critics claim auditing exists for the purpose of collecting information to blackmail former members or hinder them leaving the church at all.

In ''Dianetics,'' Hubbard laid out the process of Dianetic reverie as a way of "clearing" the mind of harmful ''engrams.'' The earliest forms of Dianetics processing, still practiced today, involved a process reminiscent of ]ian ], with the preclear reclining on a couch in a reflective state called ''Dianetic reverie'' while the auditor guided the focus of the reverie from a chair nearby and took notes, predicating his questions and responses on utterances by the preclear and a number of physiological indications. This process was meant to find engrams, and once found, have the preclear go through them, in increasing detail, reducing the event.

Original Dianetics auditing techniques dealt exclusively with the preclear's current life and focused mainly on physical or emotional injuries sustained by him. However, it was reported that some people were reporting incidents from past lives. This was extremely controversial. Hubbard decided to investigate further, and concluded people running such incidents had positive results, and not running such incidents when they came up in auditing led to negative results. This controversy opened the door to a new topic, and resulted in the birth of Scientology. (There are a number of taped lectures available in which Hubbard provides colorful commentary on the events of the period.)

While any person can pick up the book or video, and start auditing with these materials, the Church has an extensive standardized system for the training, certification, internship, and administration of professional auditors and the practice of auditing. This system is called Standard Tech, and includes more than the actual procedures of auditing. The intent of Standard Tech is to ensure preclears get the results they are looking for.

Scientology takes the auditing process further, focusing on mental trauma and routinely dealing with the preclear's past lives, some "hundreds of millions of years" in the past. (In such Scientology publications as ''Have You Lived Before This Life,'' Hubbard himself wrote about ]s dating back billions and even ''trillions'' of years&mdash;even though the estimated age of the ] is believed to be about 13.5 billion years. This apparent contradiction is not a contradiction within Scientology, as Scientology teaches that ''Thetans'' are immortal spirits, and as such are not limited to a single universe.<!-- "&mdash;like many other faiths which accept ]&mdash;" Can anyone more familiar with comparative theology confirm this and name these faiths? I don't think the others teach that '''Thetans''' have existed in previous universes... -->) <!-- Check out some concepts of the eastern religious systems, such as the Day of Brahma in the Hindu religion, and the tales of the past lives of the Buddha and other bodhisattvas -->

A person coming in for religious counseling is required to be well fed and rested, alert, and not under the influence of drugs. This means no alcohol for 24 hours or medication, including aspirine, for a week. There have been cases of health problems when people who had regular medications prescribed by a doctor (e.g. for high blood pressure or epilepsy) stopped taking them to receive Scientology counseling. <!--This is better located in the section on auditing!--> Therefore, the Church has long had a requirement all medical conditions be properly addressed before spiritual counseling.

In a manner similar to the therapeutic sessions of a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or ministers of other religions delivering pastoral counseling, during the auditing process the auditor may collect personal or confidential material from the person being audited. The Church maintains, like other religions, confessional records have the confidentiality. In some instances, former members have complained the Church has used information obtained in auditing sessions against them in various ways, however their complaints are legally unenforceable.

In response to such complaints, the Church invariably notes the confidentiality associated with auditing sessions is not by any means the same as psychology or psychiatry. This marked difference being the case, few legal bounds exist upon how the Church may choose to exercise confidentiality with any information it may have obtained via an auditing.

The aim of auditing, according to Hubbard, is to enable the preclear to recover awareness and volitional control of the material and charge previously stored in his reactive mind. Critics have claimed auditing is a gathering of material for blackmail in case one should leave the religion. The Church publicly denies this.

A number of articles explaining Auditing procedures by non-Scientologists have been written. While interesting, these often include material not part of the Scientology canon.


The term ''clear'' derives from a calculator button that deletes previous calculations. According to Scientology beliefs, Clears are "optimal individuals", and "they have been cleared of false information and memories of traumatic experiences that prevent them from adapting to the world around them in a natural and appropriate fashion." Scientologists believe that clears become more successful in their daily lives and are "healthier, experience less stress, and possess better communication skills than non-Scientologists."{{r|zellner98}}
For more information see the article ].


"Auditing" is sometimes considered controversial, because auditing sessions are permanently recorded and stored within "preclear folders". Scientologists believe that the practice of auditing helps them overcome the debilitating effects of traumatic experiences, most of which have accumulated over a multitude of lifetimes.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book | last1 = Bromley | first1 = David | last2 = Cowan | first2 = Douglas | title = Cults and new religions: a brief history }}</ref> The folders are kept in accordance with the Priest/Penitent legal parameters which do not allow these folders to be seen or used for any other purpose or seen by any others who are not directly involved in supervising that person's auditing progress.
==== Restrictions on Auditing ====


Auditors are required to become proficient with the use of their E-meters. The device measures the subject's ] like a ] (lie detector), but with only one electrode per hand rather than multiple sensors.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6S9MPQYvPFwC&pg=PT78 |page=78 |title=Religions of the Stars: What Hollywood Believes and How It Affects You |last=Abanes |first=Richard |publisher=Baker Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4412-0445-5}}</ref> The E-meter is primarily used in auditing, which "aims to remove (engrams) to produce a state of 'clear.'"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595091823/Scientology-Church-now-claims-more-than-8-million-members.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925101725/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595091823/Scientology-Church-now-claims-more-than-8-million-members.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2012|title=Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members|author=Elaine Jarvik|date=September 18, 2004|work=DeseretNews.com}}</ref> Auditors do not receive final certification until they have completed an internship, and have demonstrated a proven ability in the skills they have been trained in.{{Original research inline|date=December 2008}} Auditors often practice their auditing with each other, as well as friends or family. Church members sometimes pair up during training, doing the same course simultaneously so that they can audit each other up through the various Scientology levels.
Before a person can receive auditing, a checklist exists which is gone over to make sure a person is qualified to receive auditing. Typically, this includes items such as


According to scholar Harriet Whitehead, the Church of Scientology "has developed a fine-tooled hierarchically organized system of audit (training) sessions where the technology of these sessions, in fact, is the treatment leading to processes of renunciation and eventually reformulation in the individual," which is similar to psychoanalysis.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Reference: Renunciation and Reformulation: A Study of Conversion in an American Sect: Review by: Karl Peter | journal = Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | date = September 1988 | first = Harriet | last = Whitehead |author2=Karl Peter | volume = 27 | issue = 3 | pages = 454–456| doi=10.2307/1387393| jstor = 1387393 }}</ref>
# A person can not be suffering from a major untreated medical condition.
# A person can not be wanted by the police or authorities, or be liable for arrest for a crime committed in this lifetime.
# A person must be there of his own volition, not under duress.
# A person must honestly want to be audited, and is not acting according to some other agenda.
# A person must not be constantly attacking Scientology.


==== Traumatic memories and the reactive mind ====
In such cases, the person would have to be treated for the medical condition, turn himself in to the police, or take whatever other steps necessary to address his issue.
{{See also|Dianetics|Auditing (Scientology)}}
] to a potential student.]]


Among Scientology's basic tenets are the belief that human beings are immortal, that a person's life experience transcends a single lifetime, and that human beings possess infinite capabilities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Steven |title=What is Scientology? An Introductory Guide to the Church of Scientology and the Fundamental Scientology Beliefs and Principles |publisher=Miaf LLC |year=2015 }}</ref> Scientology presents two major divisions of the mind.<ref name="strangetimes98">{{harvnb|Flowers|1984|p=98}}</ref> The "]" is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the "analytical mind" is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness.<ref name=Chryssides>{{cite book
==== The E-meter ====
| last = Chryssides
| first = George D.
| author-link = George D. Chryssides
| title = Exploring New Religions
| publisher = ]
| year = 1999
| pages = 283
| isbn = 978-0826459596 }}
</ref><ref name="Farwell">{{cite book |author=Bednarowski, Mary Farrell |title=New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America) |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |year=1995 |page=60 |isbn=978-0-253-20952-8}}</ref> The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as "]".<ref name="pollock">{{cite book |author=Pollock, Robert |title=The Everything World's Religions Book: Discover the Beliefs, Traditions, and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions |publisher=Adams Media Corporation |location=Avon, MA |year=2002 |page=210 |isbn=978-1-58062-648-4}}</ref> Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=221–236}} Avoiding this fate is Scientology's basic goal.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=221–236}} Dianetic ] is one way by which the Scientologist may progress toward the ']' state, winning gradual freedom from the reactive mind's engrams, and acquiring certainty of their reality as a thetan.<ref name="Melton32">{{harvnb|Melton|2000|p=32}}</ref> Hubbard's differentiation of the reactive mind and the analytical mind forms one of the basic tenets of Dianetics. The analytical mind is similar to the conscious mind, which processes daily information and events. The reactive mind produces the mind's "aberrations" such as "fear, inhibition, intense love and hate and various psychosomatic ills" which are recorded as "engrams".<ref>Oppenheimer, Mark. "In The Clear." Nation 293.19 (2011): 31-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.</ref>


Scientology believes people have hidden abilities that have not yet been fully realized.<ref name="J. Gordon Melton p. 224">J. Gordon Melton ''The Encyclopedia of American Religion'', p. 224, McGrath Publishing Co., 1978 {{ISBN|978-0-7876-9696-2}}</ref> It is believed that increased spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions referred to as "auditing".<ref name="Finkelman509">Paul Finkelman ''Religion and American Law'', p. 509, Taylor & Francis, 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-8153-0750-1}}</ref> Through auditing, it is said that people can solve their problems and free themselves of engrams.<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite magazine|last=Reitman|first=Janet|title=Inside Scientology|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-scientology-20110208|access-date=August 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331193434/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-scientology-20110208|archive-date=March 31, 2014|date=2011-02-08}}</ref> This restores them to their natural condition as thetans and enables them to be "at cause" in their daily lives, responding rationally and creatively to life events rather than reacting to them under the direction of stored engrams.{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=175}} Accordingly, those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of "Preclear" to "Clear" and "Operating Thetan".{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|pp=176–177}} Scientology's utopian aim is to "clear the planet", a world in which everyone has cleared themselves of their engrams.{{sfn|Palmer|2009|p=316}}
Most later forms of auditing employ a device called the Hubbard ] (or ''E-Meter''). This device measures changes in the ] of the preclear's skin by passing approximately 1/2 volt through a pair of tin-plated tubes much like empty soup cans, attached to the meter by wires and held by the preclear during auditing. These low-potential changes in electrical resistance, known as the '']'', are believed by Scientologists to be a reliable and precise indication of mental tension in the preclear.


Auditing is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or "auditor".{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} It bears a superficial similarity to ] or pastoral counseling, but the auditor records and stores all information received and does not dispense forgiveness or advice the way a pastor or priest might do.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} Instead, the auditor's task is to help people discover and understand engrams and their limiting effects for themselves.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} Most auditing requires an ], a device that measures minute changes in ] through the body when a person holds electrodes (metal "cans"), and a small current is passed through them.<ref name="rollingstone" />{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}}
For details, see ]


Scientology believes that watching for changes in the E-meter's display helps locate engrams.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} Once an area of concern has been identified, the auditor asks the individual specific questions about it to help them eliminate the engram and uses the E-meter to confirm that the engram's "charge" has been dissipated and the engram has been cleared.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} As the individual progresses, the focus of auditing moves from simple to increasingly complex engrams.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}} At the more advanced OT auditing levels, Scientologists perform solo auditing sessions, acting as their own auditors.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|pp=229–230}}
==== Case Supervision ====


==== Silent birth ====
Senior expert auditors trained to oversee the auditing of auditors are called Case Supervisors. The Case Supervisor inspects the folders of all preclears who received auditing that day, and issue instructions for what is to be audited the next day. They look for auditor errors and omissions, and ensure that the auditing follows the correct program and correct best procedures for the preclear.
{{main|Silent birth}}


Advocated by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, silent birth describes "the process of childbirth where labor and delivery is done in a calm and loving environment." To provide quiet surroundings for the baby's delivery, individuals in their immediate vicinity are prompted not to speak. According to Scientology practices, silent birth is "mandatory to provide the best possible environment for the pregnant mother and her new baby." Shouting, laughing, or making loud remarks must be avoided while the baby is being pushed out. According to ''The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World,'' "its origins are fundamentally rooted in the principle that women, particularly expectant mothers, be given the utmost care and respect."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Navodita | first = Pande | editor = Mary Zeiss Stange |editor2=Carol K. Oyster |editor3=Jane E. Sloan | encyclopedia = The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World | title = Silent Birth (Scientology) | edition = 2nd | year = 2000 | publisher = SAGE Publications | location = Thousand Oaks, California | pages = 1778–81}}</ref>
==== Standardized Procedures and Lists of Questions ====


=== Training ===
One feature of the modern system of Scientology auditing is the use of collections of questions into standardized lists to address specific areas of interest. Lists exist to handle almost any topic or situation under the sun and also are used to determine which areas that might be of interest. Specific collections of such lists along with other procedures addressing a specific area are often called a 'rundown'.


Scientologists also undergo training aside from auditing, which consists of several levels of courses about daily life improvement using various tools and auditing techniques so that members can perform the same procedure as other Scientologists.{{r|Lewis 2017|pages=4-5}}
==== Preclear Folders ====


==== Interpretation and context ====
The Church keeps extensive archives of auditing records for every auditing session managed by the Church as part of the Standard Tech System. These personal records of all Scientologists are called ''PC folders'' ("Preclear folders"), and the Church of Scientology states that these records are kept absolutely confidential. Critics and former members contest this claim, giving accounts by former members who claim that information from their PC folders are routinely used for purposes of blackmail and personal ruin.


Scientology discourages secondary interpretation of its writings.<ref>{{harvnb|Neusner|2003|p=}}</ref> Scientologists are taught to consult only official sources, and never convey their own interpretation of concepts in their own words.
=== The Purification Rundown ===


=== Study Technology ===
The 'Purification Rundown, known as "The Purif" within Scientology, is a program of "]" developed by L. Ron Hubbard, involving the use of saunas, vitamins, and the drinking of oils. While it is heavily promoted as a health regimen within Scientology, and in Scientology's rehabilitation program ], the procedure is viewed as dangerous by most medical professionals, as it calls for saunas and vitamins far in excess of what mainstream medicine considers safe levels.
{{main|Study Tech}}


Hubbard described three barriers to study: lack of mass, too steep a gradient, and the misunderstood word. Scientology teaches that a student who learns only ideas, without also seeing the thing in real life that they are studying (the mass) or at least a picture of it, would suffer feeling dizzy or bored or angry—the remedy would be to provide the student with some mass of the thing they are studying. If a student does not know the fundamentals of a subject and advances too quickly to higher levels, they would feel confused—the remedy for too steep a gradient would be to drop back down to the earlier level the person thought they knew well but did not. When a student reads past a word they do not fully understand, they would "go blank", yawn, or seem distracted—the remedy would be to find the word they did not know and look it up in a dictionary, then continue studying.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scientology makes it in classroom door |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/20/Worldandnation/Scientology_makes_it_.shtml |first=Robert |last=Farley |date=May 20, 2007 |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523060925/http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/20/Worldandnation/Scientology_makes_it_.shtml |archive-date=May 23, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=HCOB 25 June 1971 R : Barriers to Study |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |publisher=Church of Scientology |date=November 25, 1974 }}</ref>
The Purification Rundown is usually the first step for a Scientologist towards going "]". The program usually takes about two weeks. As well as spending time in saunas, Scientologists are required to do light ].


In Scientology, "misinformation or miscommunication is analogous to original sin, inhibiting individual growth and relationships with others." The "misunderstood word" is a key concept in Scientology, and failure in reading comprehension is attributed to it.{{r|zellner98}} Scientology focuses heavily on dictionaries. The Church of Scientology includes glossaries in most books and even publishes several dictionaries covering Scientology-specific terminology, words, phrases, and abbreviations.{{r|hubbard-admindict|hubbard-techdict}} Critics have accused Hubbard of "loading the language" and using ] to keep Scientologists from interacting with others outside of Scientology.<ref>{{cite news | last = Branch | first = Craig | title = Applied Scientology in Public Schools? | work = The Watchman Expositor | publisher = ] | year = 1997 | url = http://www.watchman.org/sci/appliedscientology.htm | access-date = 2007-01-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002003447/http://www.watchman.org/sci/appliedscientology.htm |archive-date=October 2, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Wakefield | first = Margery | title = Understanding Scientology |chapter=The Language of Scientology -- ARC, SPs, PTPs and BTs | publisher = Coalition of Concerned Citizens | year = 1991 | url = https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-08.html }}</ref>
For a detailed description, see ]


=== Auditor Training === === The Bridge to Total Freedom ===
{{Main|The Bridge to Total Freedom}}


], also known as the "Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart", is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom.{{sfn|Urban|2011|p=134–135}}{{r|rinder|pages=48,296}} In '']'', Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man.{{nbsp}} In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!"{{r|dmsmh}}{{r|atack|page=13}} The current Classification, Gradation, and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization.{{r|thebridge}}{{r|wakefield|chapter=6}} A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the ] to higher states of awareness and ability.{{sfn|Urban|2011|p=134–135}}
Auditors are required to become routinely expert in the use of their E-meters. A typical exercise in auditor training (from the Book of E-Meter Drills) is to be able to determine the number a silent person is thinking of. A sophisticated training simulator, able to recreate all manner of E-meter reactions, is now used in Scientology churches to assist in Auditor training. E-meters now include circuitry for feeding the various signals to special course training supervisors who can monitor the session of a student auditor, and via microphone can coach a student auditor to delivering a better auditing session without disturbing the person receiving auditing. Auditors are also required to become routinely expert in the use of the procedures that they will be using, so much so that they know the correct action to take under any circumstance that may occur in session. Auditors do not receive final certification until they have successfully completed an internship, and have demonstrated and proven ability in the skills they have been trained in. In this system, auditors do not deliver procedures in which they have not been certified.


=== Detoxification and purification ===
Auditors often practice their auditing with each other, as well as friends, or family. Church members pair up often to get their training, doing the same course at the same time, so that they can audit each other up through the various Scientology levels.
{{main|Purification Rundown}}


The Purification Rundown<ref name="bouma">{{cite book|title=Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century |first=Gary D. |last=Bouma|publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=2006|page=9|isbn=978-0-521-67389-1}}</ref> is a controversial ] program developed by Scientology's founder ] and used by the ] as an introductory service.<ref name="bouma" /><ref name="refslund">{{cite book |last=Christensen|first=Dorthe Refslund|title=Scientology|editor=James R. Lewis|publisher=Oxford University Press US|location=New York|year=2009|pages=420–421|chapter=Sources for the Study of Scientology|isbn=978-0-19-533149-3}}</ref> Scientologists consider it the only effective way to deal with the long-term effects of drug abuse or toxic exposure.<ref name="refslund" /> The program combines exercise, dietary supplements and long stays in a sauna (up to five hours a day for five weeks).<ref name="emergency1997">{{cite journal| last=Al-Zaki |first=Taleb|author2=B Tilman Jolly |date=January 1997| title=Severe Hyponatremia After Purification |journal=Annals of Emergency Medicine |doi=10.1016/S0196-0644(97)70335-4 |volume=29 |issue=1 | pages=194–195| pmid=8998113}}</ref> It is promoted variously as religious or secular, medical or purely spiritual, depending on context.<ref name="welkos">{{cite news | last =Sappell | first =Joel |author2=Robert W. Welkos |work=] | title=Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science | date =June 27, 1990|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062790-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026084227/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-scientology062790,0,2470065,full.story |url-status=live |archive-date=October 26, 2012 |access-date=January 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="sommer3">{{cite news|title=Helping Spread the Word|last=Sommer|first=Mark|date=February 1, 2005|work=The Buffalo News}}</ref>
<!-- ==== Scientology study technology ==== -->


] is a drug education and rehabilitation program founded on Hubbard's beliefs about toxins and purification.<ref name="GA182">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=182}}</ref><ref name="Melton45-46">{{harvnb|Melton|2000|pp=45–46}}</ref> Narconon is offered in the United States, Canada and some European countries; its ''Purification Program'' uses a regimen composed of ], physical exercise, vitamins and diet management, combined with auditing and study.<ref name="GA182" /><ref name="Melton45-46" />
==== Verbal Tech ====


=== Psychosis and introspection ===
One of the more controversial aspects of Scientology is the tendency of its members to avoid answering direct questions about their faith with anything but a quote from L. Ron Hubbard. Observers have noted an ongoing policy in Scientology that forbids actual discussion of the processes of Scientology and how they work. Some observers requesting verbal explanations have become very annoyed with being asked to read original ].
{{main|Introspection Rundown}}


The Introspection Rundown is a controversial Church of Scientology auditing process that is intended to handle a psychotic episode or complete mental breakdown. Introspection is defined for this rundown as a condition where the person is "looking into one's own mind, feelings, reactions, etc."<ref>''Technical Bulletins X'' Bridge Publications, Inc. {{ISBN|0-88404-481-5}} (1991)</ref> The Introspection Rundown came under public scrutiny after the death of ] in 1995.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/death-in-slow-motion-part-2-of-3-in-a-special-report-on-the-church-of/1012234 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006160301/http://www.tampabay.com/news/death-in-slow-motion-part-2-of-3-in-a-special-report-on-the-church-of/1012234 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 6, 2012 |title=Death in slow motion: Part 2 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology |author=Tobin and Childs |publisher=Tampa Bay Times |date=June 21, 2009 |access-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref>
In Scientology teachings, the best course is to get explanations of concepts and ideas directly from Hubbard, be it through books, or audio recordings, or movies. For beginning students, this is also the simplest way of giving an explanation of a particular concept. The act of discussing Scientology processes in a spoken manner is called "verbal tech," and this is believed to ultimately interfere with the direct understanding, and thus the working of the Tech. The Tech can only be delivered to Scientologists in its original form, as ''written'' or ''spoken'' on tapes and seen in films.


=== Ethics, justice and disconnection ===
When the actual discussion of the Tech is not coming from Hubbard himself, it is seen as being diluted or distorted, and thus is no longer 100% pure. As a result, engaging in "verbal tech" is forbidden within Scientology. This disallowing of "verbal tech" directs Scientologists to the original ] (Hubbard's original writings) to clarify a concept, such as the actual workings of what Scientology is and how it works.
{{main|Scientology ethics and justice|Suppressive person|Disconnection (Scientology)}}


Scientology's internal ] is designed to deal with unethical or antisocial behavior.<ref name="GA180">{{harvnb|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=180}}</ref><ref name="Melton34">{{harvnb|Melton|2000|p=34}}</ref> Ethics officers are present in every org; they are tasked with ensuring correct application of Scientology technology and deal with violations such as non-compliance with standard procedures or any other behavior adversely affecting an org's performance, ranging from errors and misdemeanors to crimes and suppressive acts, as defined by internal documents.{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=181}} Scientology teaches that spiritual progress requires and enables the attainment of high ''"'']" standards.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|p=228}} In Scientology, rationality is stressed over morality.{{sfn|Neusner|2003|p=228}} Actions are considered ''ethical'' if they promote ''survival'' across all ], thus benefiting the greatest number of people or things possible while harming the fewest.{{sfn|Melton|2000|pp=33–34}}
Scientology holds that the best course is to get explanations of concepts and ideas directly from Hubbard, be it through books, or audio recordings, or movies. Scientology contends that this policy of forbidding "verbal tech" exists in order to keep the Tech pure and unadulterated, and to prevent students from passing on their misunderstandings of Hubbard's instructions to others. Secondary materials produced by students are considered inferior to Hubbard's original works, due to their creators' misinterpretation of Scientologist doctrine; Hubbard's efforts to rectify this problem and prevent any future misunderstandings led to the development of the system known as "Standard Tech".


While Scientology states that many social problems are the unintentional results of people's imperfections, it asserts that there are also genuinely malevolent individuals.{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}} Hubbard believed that approximately 80 percent of all people are what he called ''social personalities''{{spaced ndash}}people who welcome and contribute to the welfare of others.{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}} The remaining 20 percent of the population, Hubbard thought, were '']s''.{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}} According to Hubbard, only about 2.5 percent of this 20 percent are hopelessly antisocial personalities; these make up the small proportion of truly dangerous individuals in humanity: "the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords."{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}}{{r|zellner98}} Scientologists believe that any contact with suppressive or antisocial individuals harms one's spiritual condition, necessitating ].{{sfn|Cowan|Bromley|2006|p=177}}{{r|zellner98}}
==== "Truth itself must be approached on a gradient" ====


In Scientology, defectors who turn into critics of the movement are declared suppressive persons,<ref name="isbn978-0-04-445687-2">{{cite book |author=Marshall, Gordon |title=In praise of sociology |publisher=Unwin Hyman |location=Boston |year=1990 |page=187 |isbn=978-0-04-445687-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Flowers|1984|p=101}}<ref name="netwars">{{cite book |author=Grossman, Wendy |title=Net. wars |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |year=1997 |page= |isbn=978-0-8147-3103-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/netwars00gros/page/73 }}</ref><ref name="isbn978-0-691-12582-4">{{cite book |author=Greenawalt, Kent |title=Religion and the Constitution |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=2006 |page=298 |isbn=978-0-691-12582-4}}</ref> and the Church of Scientology has a reputation for moving aggressively against such detractors.{{sfn|Melton|2000|p=36}} A Scientologist who is actively in communication with a suppressive person and, as a result, shows signs of antisocial behavior is referred to as a '']''.<ref name="newreli">{{cite book |author=Bednarowski, Mary Farrell |title=New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America) |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |year=1995 |page=114 |isbn=978-0-253-20952-8}}</ref><ref name="altreliny">{{cite book |author=Miller, Timothy |title=America's alternative religions |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, NY |year=1995 |page= |isbn=978-0-7914-2397-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/americasalternat00mill/page/388 }}</ref>
A key component of Scientology training and auditing is that one is learning about oneself and the universe and one's place in it on a gradient. While one can purchase thousands of pages of material and literally thousands of hours of audio lectures, some material is introductory material, and some is intended for the professional auditor. The church has published a best sequence of study, so that auditors develop their skills in a way meant to quickly ensure maximum skill and expertise.


=== Fair game ===
Critics cite this as the idea that a Scientologist must receive the "truth" (i.e. newer and higher levels of Scientology teaching) only when he or she has completed one level and is ready for the next step. Scientology's beliefs on learning include the concept of a "gradient": breaking down a complicated idea into smaller pieces so that someone who could not grasp the whole idea at once can learn it piece by piece. This is not unique to Scientology; what ''is'' unique is the assertion that any piece out of order can actually be harmful to the would-be learner. The degree of harm can range from the "nonoptimum physical reactions" of "feel squashed feel bent, sort of spinny, sort of dead" (''Basic Study Manual'') that come from proceeding past a "misunderstood", to the ] by which (in Hubbard's words) "The implant is calculated to kill anyone who attempts to solve it."
{{main|Fair game (Scientology)}}


The term ''fair game'' describes policies and practices carried out by the Church against people the Church perceives as its enemies. Hubbard established the policy in the 1950s, in response to criticism both from within and outside his organization.<ref name="urban2006">{{cite journal|last=Urban|first=Hugh B. |date=June 2006|title=Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=74|issue=2|pages=356–389|issn=1477-4585 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfj084|s2cid=143313978}}</ref><ref name="urban2008">{{cite journal|last=Urban |first=Hugh B.|year=2008|title=Secrecy and New Religious Movements: Concealment, Surveillance, and Privacy in a New Age of Information|journal=Religion Compass|volume=2|issue=1|pages=66–83|issn=1749-8171 |doi=10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00052.x}}</ref> Individuals or groups who are "fair game" are judged to be a threat to the Church and, according to the policy, can be punished and harassed using any and all means possible.<ref name="urban2006" /><ref name="urban2008" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Streeter|first=Michael |title=Behind Closed Doors: The Power and Influence of Secret Societies|publisher=New Holland Publishers |year=2008|isbn=978-1-84537-937-7|pages=217–219|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/behindcloseddoor0000stre}}</ref>
Under this doctrine, Scientologists must therefore suppress information that is "too advanced" for the information-seeker (for the latter's own good). This explains some notable contradictions in what Scientology professes as its beliefs and practices, such as stating to the public that Scientology is compatible with all other religions when ] (see "Secret Writings" below) teaches that ] and the ] are merely implants. The Scientologist would say that approaching information on a gradient keeps people from being confused, but the critic would say that it keeps people from being able to evaluate what Scientology is telling them in any context except the one Scientology has planned for them.


Hubbard and his followers targeted many individuals as well as government officials and agencies, including a ] of the ] and other ] agencies during the 1970s.<ref name="urban2006" /><ref name="urban2008" /> They also conducted private investigations, ] and ] against the Church's critics in the media.<ref name="urban2006" /> The policy remains in effect and has been defended by the Church of Scientology as a core religious practice.<ref name="wollersheim212calapp3d872">Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology, 212 Cal. App. 3d 872 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 1989)</ref><ref name="flinnp4032">Frank K. Flinn testimony in Church of Scientology of California, 1984, vol.23, pp.4032–4160</ref><ref name="wollersheimb023193">Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Court of Appeal of the State of California, civ.no.B023193, July 18, 1989</ref>
The idea of approaching the truth gradually is reflected in a quotation from L. Ron Hubbard that is frequently repeated by Scientologists when asked for an explanation of their beliefs: "What is true, is true for you." This statement can be seen as meaning that to a person (specifically a Scientologist), something is true only when that person experiences it for himself.


=== Ethics === === Holidays ===


Scientology celebrates seven main holidays each year:<ref name=Rothstein2016/>{{r|lewis2017b|pages=22-23}}
Scientology Ethics differs from common philosophical discussions of ethical problems in that many issues that arise in such discussions are seen as covered and handled by auditing technology. Thus a typical moral dilemma is no longer a problem in real life, because, with auditing, one can become able to make the needed decision, and one can often see an alternate path that one was blind to when caught inside the dilemma.
* L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, March 13, celebrates Scientology's achievements during the prior year
* Dianetics Day, May 9, marks the anniversary of the 1950 publication of ''Dianetics''
* Maiden Anniversary Voyage: June 9 is the anniversary of the ] of the ship '']''.
* ] is held on August 12
* Auditor's Day is the second Sunday in September
* The IAS event, October 7, celebrates the anniversary of the founding of the ]
* New Year's event, December 31


=== Sunday services ===
This contrasts with modern research on ethical decision making, where individuals are presented alternative solutions to moral dilemmas which are more and more impossible choose between. In real life, one would not be limited to the conditions imposed by the research problem, and a person not overwhelmed by the issue or the choices is likely to be creative enough to come up with an alternate solution.


A Scientology Sunday service has a sermon, similar to some other religions. It typically begins at 11 am, and Hubbard's writings are read aloud during the service. Like other religions' services, music is played, and sometimes performances are enjoyed.{{sfn|Neusner|2009|p={{pn|date=January 2022}}}} The minister speaks on Scientology doctrine, announces the weekly activities of the community and recent updates from churches around the world. Scientologists also say "A Prayer for Total Freedom", asking the "author of the universe" to help them as they seek enlightenment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ashcraft-Eason |first1=Lillian |last2=Martin |first2=Darnise|last3=Olademo |first3=Overonke |title=Women and New African Religions |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=9780275991562 }}</ref>
Thus, Scientology Ethics becomes more of a system related to achieving the goals and purposes one espouses. It dovetails with administrative policy and techniques, in order to ensure that people are working together as part of the same team, and are in agreement as to goals, purposes, and the common agenda.


The way Scientology's service has been executed has not changed. The minister chooses from limited possible sermons and group processing exercises. He creates the sermon within a literal interpretation of Hubbard's canonical teachings, functioning similarly to other indigenous theologians who work with canonical texts.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Scientology: Religious Studies Approaches |journal=Numen |year=2016 |last=Lewis |first=James R. |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=6–11 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341405 }}</ref>
In this light, the ideal scene would be a group of people in knowing and understanding agreement on their goals and purposes, expert and competent in their various jobs, trusting of each other, working together towards a capable and desirable honest goal. Various difficulties would be handled by the correct body of techniques, be it auditing, training, research and development, or whatever else was needed. Everyone would be there because they wanted to be there. Persons working under false pretenses would get spotted and sorted out one way or another, including those working for some other team or interest group.


According to religious studies scholar ], Sunday services are for interested non-members, and the holidays and events are for existing members of the church.{{r|lewis2017b|page=23}}
In a larger context, the system of ''ethics'' within Scientology is described by Hubbard as a way of ensuring "the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics." (see discussion above) The system defines a number of "conditions" (in Life) defined from lower to higher; the system for moving to these higher conditions involves following the formulas for the appropriate conditions.


=== Rituals ===
Ethics also involves the use of security checks, called "sec checks" within the organization, in which the Scientologist will work with an auditor to answer a long series of confessional questions. During these "sec checks" the E-meter is used to determine when a truthful answer is given, in a manner similar to the use of a lie detector. In the past, individuals working under false pretenses were discovered working in Scientology organisations, and methods were developed to discover them.


The church's rituals can be categorized in four ways: first, rituals performed for spiritual transformation; second, collective ceremonies usually called events, including Hubbard's birthday; third, rites of passage, including weddings and funerals; and fourth, those that mimic Christian rituals, such as Sunday services. Events include the anniversary of Dianetics, the anniversary of ], and Auditor's Day.<ref name=Rothstein2016>{{cite journal |title=The Significance of Rituals in Scientology: A Brief Overview and a Few Examples |journal=Numen |year=2016 |last=Rothstein |first=Mikael |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=54–70 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341408 }}</ref>
Critics and former members describe the system as a method of social control designed to enforce strict behavior and obedience among Scientologists. Critics claim the safeguards built into the Tech are designed to secure Hubbard's absolute authority over Scientology, as they effectively prevent Scientologists from actually questioning the policies of Scientology. Hubbard's position as ''Source'' ensures his writings as the final authority in Scientology, and they can never be questioned; even the act of merely talking about his writings without proper supervision is discouraged, lest the person questioning Hubbard's authorities be labeled ''P.T.S.'' (or worse, an ''S.P.''), and required to undergo Scientology ''].''


{{anchor|Squirreling}}
See the full article on ]
== Splinter groups: independents, Miscavige's RTC, and squirreling ==


]
=== Patter drills ===


While "Scientology" generally refers to the ]-led ], other groups are practicing Scientology. These groups, collectively known as the ] or as Independent Scientologists, consist of both former members of the Church of Scientology and new followers of the movement. In 1965, a longtime Church member and "Doctor of Scientology" Jack Horner, dissatisfied with the Church's "ethics" program, developed Dianology.{{r|beithallahmi|p=111}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Melton|editor-first1=J. G.|chapter=Church of Eductivism |title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|year=2003|publisher=Detroit: Gale|page=815}}</ref> Bill Robertson, a former Sea Org member, was a primary instigator of the Free Zone in the early 1980s.<ref name="freezone_orgintro">{{cite web|author=Free Zone Assoc. |url=http://www.freezone.org/news/intro.htm |title=Introduction |publisher=Freezone.org |date=January 30, 2002 |access-date=September 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109194238/http://www.freezone.org/news/intro.htm |archive-date=November 9, 2013 }}</ref> The church labels these groups as "squirrels" in ] and often subjects them to considerable legal and social pressure.<ref name="wipo">{{Cite web |url=https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0410.html |title=Administrative Panel Decision, Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V, Case No. D2000-0410 |website=] |date=June 23, 2000}}</ref><ref name="salon">{{cite news
Patter drills were added to many Scientology training courses by ] beginning in mid-1995. The technique of these drills is, while seated facing a wall, to become able to repeat a section of course material verbatim to the wall. These drills have created some controversy, as there is no reference by L. Ron Hubbard authorizing them, yet there is a reference that apparently prohibits them: HCOPL 16 April 1965 Issue II "Drills, Allowed". Some have contended that the patter drills are not practical, but rather theory drills. If this were the case, however, the drills would then violate HCOPL 13 May 1972, "Chinese School". There is no validation for these patter drills outside of the Church of Scientology.
| last = Brown
| first = Janelle
| title = Copyright – or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon – the Digital Millennium Copyright Act – in its ongoing battle with critics
| work = ]
| date = July 22, 1999
| url = http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/07/22/scientology/print.html
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090626222533/http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/07/22/scientology/print.html| archive-date =June 26, 2009}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Colette|first=Mark|title=Former Scientology film crew member describes surveillance activities in Ingleside on the Bay|url=http://www.caller.com/news/2011/aug/06/former-scientology-film-crew-member-describes-in/|publisher=Caller-Times, Corpus Christi|access-date=September 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105133404/http://www.caller.com/news/2011/aug/06/former-scientology-film-crew-member-describes-in/ |archive-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>


On January 1, 1982, Miscavige established the ] (RTC).<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|Hammer|2007|p=24}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, individuals began splintering off the Church of Scientology and forming groups in what they called the "Free Zone". Most notable was the ousting of ], Hubbard's own ] and the highest-ranking technical officer in Scientology whom Hubbard had appointed successor guardian of Scientology's doctrines. After his removal, Mayo established the ], which became quite successful until it was bankrupted in 1986 by years of litigation and harassment from the Church of Scientology.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with David Mayo |date=28 August 1986 |website=] |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/interviews/mayo.htm |access-date=July 18, 2023}}</ref>{{r|reitman|pages=168–169}}
== Other Aspects ==


In the mid-2000s, high-profile defectors ] and ] represented and stood for the cause of Independent Scientologists wishing to practice Scientology outside of the Church.<ref>{{cite news|date=26 September 2010|title=Mr Shouty and Cruise: The Rematch|work=]|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A238019293/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=e1e2c2c7|access-date=December 21, 2022 |first=John |last=Sweeney |author-link=John Sweeney (journalist)|quote=Marty Rathbun, who like Rinder is now an independent scientologist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Tobin | first1 = Thomas C. | last2 = Childs | first2= Joe | title = In new year's message, Scientology insider blasts 'extreme' fundraising | date = January 1, 2012 | work = ] | url = https://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/in-new-years-message-scientology-insider-blasts-extreme-fundraising/1208723/ | quote = Rathbun, now a leading figure in a movement for Scientologists to practice independently of the church ... | access-date = January 14, 2012 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130625183722/http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/in-new-years-message-scientology-insider-blasts-extreme-fundraising/1208723 | archive-date = June 25, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first = Robert W. | last = Welkos |author2=Sappell, Joel | title = When the Doctrine Leaves the Church | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062990b,0,4204659.story | work = ] | date = June 29, 1990 | access-date = 2008-08-24 }}</ref>
=== Salaries ===


== References ==
Scientology church leaders receive comparatively modest salaries and nothing to approach evangelicals like Billy Graham, Benny Hinn or Joyce Meyers. The majority of donations received go to promotional and expansion activities, as well as routine operational expenses. Church Leader David Miscavage has been said to have a yearly salary of aproximately $50,000 (US dollars).
{{Reflist|30em|refs=


<ref name="atack">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pieceofblueskysc00atac/ |title=A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed |first=Jon |last=Atack |author-link=Jon Atack |date=1990 |publisher=] |isbn=081840499X |ol=9429654M }}</ref>
=== Legal waivers ===


<ref name="beithallahmi">{{cite book |first=Benjamin |last=Beit-Hallahmi |author-link=Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults |year=1998 |publisher=] |isbn=0823925862 |ol=1410216M}}</ref>
Recent legal actions involving the Church of Scientology's relationship with its members (see ]) have caused the church to publish extensive legal documents that cover the relationship between the church and its parishioners. It has become standard practice within the church to require members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services &mdash; a practice that contrasts greatly with many mainstream religious organizations. See ] for more details.


<ref name="BridgebyNeusner">{{harvnb|Neusner|2003|p=}}</ref>
=== Scientology language ===


<ref name="dmsmh">{{cite book |title=Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health |title-link=Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health |year=1950 |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |author-link=L. Ron Hubbard}}</ref>
In the years of developing and promoting Scientology, Hubbard developed the ''Technical Dictionary'' (ISBN 0686308034, ISBN 0884040372), an immense ] of hundreds of words, terms, and definitions that are used by Scientologists on a regular basis. He redefined many terms of regular English to have entirely different meanings within Scientology. This is one reason why Scientology and Dianetics place a heavy emphasis on "understanding" words. Hubbard even wrote a book entitled '']'', in which he defined the methods of correcting "misunderstoods" (a Scientology term referring to a "misunderstood word or symbol"). Emphasis is placed on total understanding of terms, both in the ordinary context in English, and in any specialized utilization. Churches routinely have a least one copy of the main dictionary of the dominant language of the country they are in, such as the ]


<ref name="hubbard-admindict">{{cite book |title=Modern Management Technology Defined: Hubbard dictionary of administration and management |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |author-link=L. Ron Hubbard |publisher=] |isbn=0884040402 |ol=8192738M |year=1976 }}</ref>
The exclusivity of these terms can make it difficult for readers unfamiliar with Scientology to understand many of Hubbard's statements, such as: "The ability of an individual to assume the beingness, doingness and havingness of each Dynamic is an index to his ability to live" (L. Ron Hubbard, '']''). A quick rendering of that sentence into common English words would be that a "spiritual being is as alive as they are able to be something, to do something, to have something, to operate across the complete spectrum of existence."


<ref name="hubbard-fot">{{cite book |title=Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought |author=] |publisher=] |isbn=9781403144195 |ol=11638106M |year=2007}}</ref>
Critics of Scientology have accused Hubbard of "loading the language" and using Scientology terms to keep Scientologists from interacting with information sources outside of Scientology (see ] for additional information). Hubbard's commentary on "]" has been taken by critics to explain his use of language as follows:


<ref name="hubbard-notl">{{cite book |title=Notes on the Lectures of L. Ron Hubbard |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |publisher=] |year=1968 <!--no isbn--> }}</ref>
:''A long term propaganda technique used by socialists (Communists and Nazis alike) is of interest to PR practitioners. I know of no place it is mentioned in PR literature. But the data had verbal circulation in intelligence circles and is in constant current use. ''


<ref name="hubbard-sos">{{cite book |title=Science of Survival: Prediction of Human Behavior |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |author-link=L. Ron Hubbard |publisher=] |isbn=9788779897441 |ol=6803302M |year=2007}}</ref>
:''The trick is - '''Words are redefined to mean something else to the advantage of the propagandist.''' ''


<ref name="hubbard-techdict">{{cite book |title=Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary |first=L. Ron |last=Hubbard |author-link=L. Ron Hubbard |publisher=] |isbn=0884040372 |ol=5254386M |year=1975}}</ref>
:''Many examples of this exist. They are not ''natural'' changes in language. They are propaganda changes, carefully planned and campaigned in order to obtain a public opinion advantage for the group doing the propaganda.''


<ref name="Lewis 2017">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=J. |title=Handbook of Scientology |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor2-last=Hellesoy |editor2-first=Kjersti |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=9789004330542 }}</ref>
:''Given enough repetition of the redefinition public opinion can be altered by altering the meaning of a word. The technique is good or bad depending on the ultimate objective of the propagandists. (...)''


<ref name=lewis2017b>{{cite book |last1=Westbrook |first1=Donald A. |title=Handbook of Scientology |chapter=Researching Scientology and Scientologists in the United States: Methods and Conclusions |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor2-last=Hellesøy |editor2-first=Kjersti |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=9789004330542 }}</ref>
:''We find Professor Wundt 1879, being urged by Bismark at the period of German's greatest militarism, trying to get a philosophy that will get his soldiers to kill men. And we find Hegel, the ''great'' German Philospher, the idol of supersocialists, stressing that WAR is VITAL to the mental health of people. ''


<ref name="malko">{{cite book |first=George |last=Malko |title=Scientology: The Now Religion |title-link=Scientology: The Now Religion |year=1970 |publisher=] |ol=5444962M}}</ref>
:''Out of this we can redefine modern psychology as a German military system used to condition men for war, and subsidized in American and other universities at the time the government was having trouble with the draft. A reasonable discourse on why ''they'' had to push psychology would of course be a way of redefining an already redefined word, ''psychology'' (...)''


<ref name="reitman">{{cite book |last=Reitman |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Reitman |title=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |title-link=Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion |date=2011 |isbn=9780618883028 |ol=24881847M |publisher=] }}</ref>
:''Thus it is necessary to redefine medicine, psychiatry and psychology downward and define Dianetics and Scientology upwards.'' -- L. Ron Hubbard, ''Propaganda by Redefinition of Words'' (Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, October 5, 1971)


<ref name="rinder">{{cite book |title=A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology |first=Mike |last=Rinder |author-link=Mike Rinder |year=2022 |publisher=] |isbn=9781982185763}}</ref>
Supporters of Hubbard claim that these writings of Hubbard should be taken as his loathing of and criticism of the technique for selfish, manipulative ends. Critics point out, however, that Hubbard openly states it to be "necessary" to employ the same "propaganda technique" he has just decried in the hands of others, stating that it is the "ultimate objective" that determines whether the technique is good or bad -- affirming a belief that ].


<ref name=thebridge>{{cite web |url=https://www.whatisscientology.org/html/Part02/Chp06/img/grdchart.gif |title=The Bridge to Total Freedom : Scientology Classification Gradation and Awareness Chart of Levels and Certificates |type=Chart |publisher=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402073924/https://www.whatisscientology.org/html/Part02/Chp06/img/grdchart.gif |archive-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref>
Common Scientology terms include:
*''Theta (&Theta;)''--]; ]
*''entheta''--] '''theta'''
*''Thetan (&Theta;n)''--a spiritual being; similar to the '']'' in ] and ] or ] in ]
*''Static''--a Thetan in its natural state, prior to having immersed itself in a ] by assuming a ]; cf. the Hindu concept of ] in contrast to the dynamics. Compare also to the physics terms of a static (point of rest) and Dynamic (element in action or motion or change)
*''S.P. (Suppressive Person)''-- A person whose means of advance is through the opposition or ''suppression'' of others. The definition is asserted to include anyone who actively opposes Scientology.
*''P.T.S. (Potential Trouble Source)''--a person who is under the influence of an S.P. and so may become a source of trouble to those around them. E.g. "Wanda is PTS to Jim" means that because she is in contact with Jim (a bad influence), Wanda is having trouble in her life that may spill over to threaten others.
*''reality''--The common reality around us, also the group agreement of what is true. As seen in the sentence "My sense of reality is that birds fly and fish swim"
*''(reactive) bank''-- the sum of experiences (such as engrams, etc) whose main common component is pain and unconsciousness that influence a Thetan's thinking and behavior
*''Clear'' (as noun) --(after the ''clear'' key on ]s) a person whose reactive bank does not insert erroneous data into one's analytical thinking. Usually refers a person who is clear with regard to survival for Self.
*''to clear'' (verb) -- To clarify one's understanding with regard to a particular concept or term or symbol, leading to conceptual understanding of the same. This permits the person to rephrase the term or concept in words other than the original, without loss of the clarity when communicating with someone not educated in the subject. Note that the complexity of the subject may impose other learning curves or barriers to communication.
*'']'' -- A status assigned to those whom the Church of Scientology has ''officially declared'' to be S.P. One who has been declared "fair game" "may be deprived of property or injured by any means ... May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." Often claimed to have been cancelled in 1968, but in fact the letter that "cancelled" it specified that no policies on handling critics were changing, only the practice of using the term as "it causes bad public relations". As late as 1985 Church attorneys were arguing in court that "fair game" was actually a ]ally-protected "core practice" of Scientology.


<ref name="wakefield">{{cite book |last=Wakefield |first=Margery |title=Understanding Scientology: The Demon Cult |date=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=9780557109265 |ol= |at=Chapter 6 : Grade 0 to Clear -- The Yellow Brick Road to Total Freedom}}</ref>
''See also'': ]


<ref name="wallis">{{cite book |last=Wallis |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Wallis |title=The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology |title-link=The Road to Total Freedom |year=1977 |publisher=] |isbn=0231042000 |ol=4596322M}}</ref>
=== Squirrels ===


<ref name="wright">{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Wright |title=Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief |publisher=] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-307-70066-7 |ol=25424776M |title-link=Going Clear (book)}}</ref>
Scientology also claims that unauthorized distribution of information about Scientology practices will create a risk of improper application. This, the Scientology hierarchy contends, is the reason it wants Hubbard's writings to be distributed only by persons legally authorized to do so. Claiming that they want to keep the technology pure, the ] has pursued individual breakaway groups that have practiced Scientology outside the official Church without authorization. The act of applying Scientology in a form different from what was originally written by Hubbard is called "]" within Scientology, and is considered a "high crime." However, many point out that the Church has itself introduced changes to Hubbard's Scientology, such as the "patter drills" introduced in 1995, and cite this as an indication that the Church is more worried about losing its position as the only source of 'true' Scientology than in keeping Scientology true to Hubbard. {{dubious}}


<ref name="zellner98">{{cite book |last1=Zellner |first1=William W |last2=Petrowsky |first2=Marc |title=Sects, Cults, and Spiritual Communities: A Sociological Analysis |publisher=] |date=1998 |isbn=9780275958602 |ol=9508904M |pages=145–147}}</ref>
<!-- == References == -->


}}
==External links==


===Church sites=== === Bibliography ===


{{Refbegin|30em}}
*
* {{cite journal |last1=Bainbridge |first1=William Sims |last2=Stark |first2=Rodney |title=Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear |journal=Sociological Analysis |volume=41 |number=2 |year=1980 |pages= 128–136 |doi=10.2307/3709904 |jstor=3709904}}
*
* {{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=David V. |title=The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions |publisher=Cassell and Co |year=2001 |isbn=978-0304355921 |location=London |ol=3999281M}}
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* {{cite journal |last1=Bigliardi |first1=Stefano |title=On an Anomalous Piece of Scientology Ephemera: The Booklet Scientology and the Bible |doi-access=free|journal=Temenos: Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion |date=6 July 2017 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=113–42 |doi=10.33356/temenos.53388}}
*
* {{cite book |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |year=2009 |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=] |chapter=Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual Religion |pages=83–102 |first=David G. |last=Bromley |author-link=David G. Bromley |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0005}}
*
* {{harvc |last1=Cowan |first1=Douglas E. |author-link=Douglas E. Cowan |last2=Bromley |first2=David G. |author2-link=David G. Bromley |c=The Church of Scientology |year=2006 |in1=Gallagher |in2=Ashcraft |pages=169–196}}
*{{note|Flinn}}
* {{cite book |last=Cusack |first=Carole M. |chapter=Celebrity, the Popular Media, and Scientology: Making Familiar the Unfamiliar |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |title=Scientology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |location=New York, NY | pages=389–409 | isbn=978-0-19-533149-3}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Neusner|editor1-first=Jacob|editor1-link=Jacob Neusner|year=2003|title=World Religions in America|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22475-2| chapter=Chapter 14: The Church of Scientology: A Very New American Religion|last1=DeChant|first1=Dell|last2=Jorgenson|first2=Danny L.}}
* {{cite book|last1=Flowers|first1=Ronald B.|title=Religion in strange times: the 1960s and 1970s|year=1984 |publisher=Mercer University Press|isbn=978-0865541276 |url=https://archive.org/details/religioninstrang0000flow}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Gallagher |editor-first1=Eugene V. |editor-last2=Ashcraft |editor-first2=W. Michael |title=Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America |series=Five Volumes |place=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-275-98712-1 |ol=10289608M}}
* {{cite book |last=Grünschloß |first=Andreas |author-link=Andreas Grünschloß |year=2004 |chapter=Waiting for the "Big Beam": UFO Religions and "Ufological" Themes in New Religious Movements |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |location=New York and ] |publisher=] |pages=419–444 |isbn=978-0195369649 }}
* {{cite book |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |year=2009 |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=] |chapter=Scientology, a "New Age" Religion? |pages=225–244 |first=Andreas |last=Grünschloß |author-link=Andreas Grünschloß |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0012}}
*{{cite book |last1=Harley |first1=Gail M. |last2=Kieffer |first2=John |chapter=The Development and Reality of Auditing |title=Scientology |year=2009 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=183–205 |isbn=978-0-19-5331-49-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |author-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |title=Scientology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-533149-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtW90YkkB3gC |access-date=2016-07-20}}
*{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |year=2012 |chapter=Scientology: Up Stat, Down Stat |title=The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements |editor1=Olav Hammer |editor2=Mikael Rothstein |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=133–149 |ol=25323554M}}
* {{cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|author-link=J. Gordon Melton|title=The Church of Scientology |publisher=Signature Press|year=2000|location=Salt Lake City|isbn=978-1-56085-139-4|pages= |url=https://archive.org/details/churchofscientol00meltrich/}}
* {{cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |year=2009 |chapter=Birth of a Religion |pages=17–34 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331493.003.0002 |title=Scientology |title-link=Scientology (Lewis book) |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |isbn=9780199852321 |ol=16943235M |publisher=] }}
* {{cite book|last=Neusner|first=Jacob|year=2003|title=World Religions in America|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22475-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MJrFwCHJQkC |access-date=2012-10-09}}
* {{cite book |last1=Neusner |first1=Jacob |title=World Religions in America |edition=4th |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-664-23320-4}}
* {{harvc |last=Palmer |first=Susan J. |author-link=Susan J. Palmer |c=The Church of Scientology in France: Legal and Activist Counterattacks in the "War on ''Sectes''" |year=2009 |in=Lewis | pages=295–322}}
* {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Aled |year=2021 |title=Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-350-18254-7 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Urban |first1=Hugh B. |title=The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780691146089 |url=https://archive.org/details/churchofscientol0000urba |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |year=2012 |title=Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |last=Urban |first=Hugh B. |editor-last=Bogdan |editor-first=Henrik |pages=335–68 |isbn=978-0-19-986309-9 |oclc=820009842 |chapter=The Occult Roots of Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion |editor2-last=Starr |editor2-first=Martin P.}}
* {{cite book |last=Westbrook |first=Donald A. |year=2019 |title=Among the Scientologists: History, Theology, and Praxis |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism |isbn=978-0190664978}}
{{Refend}}


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Latest revision as of 20:45, 24 December 2024

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Followers of the Scientology movement maintain a wide variety of beliefs and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives, some of which, preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of past-life events.

Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. Scientologists also believe that people have innate, yet suppressed, power and ability, which can be regained if cleared of unwanted behavioral patterns and discomforts. Believers reach their full potential "when they understand themselves in their true relationship to the physical universe and the Supreme Being." There have been many scholarly studies of Scientology, and the books are freely available in bookshops, churches, and most libraries.

The Church of Scientology believes that "Man is basically good, that he is seeking to survive, (and) that his survival depends on himself and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe", as stated in the Creed of the Church of Scientology.

Beliefs

Thetan

See also: Thetan

A thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the identity which IS the individual. One does not have a thetan, something one keeps somewhere apart from oneself; he is a thetan.

— The Church of Scientology, 1992

Hubbard taught that there were three "Parts of Man", the spirit, mind, and body. The first of these is a person's "true" inner self, a "theta being" or "thetan". While the thetan is akin to the idea of the soul or spirit found in other traditions, Hubbard avoided terms like "soul" or "spirit" because of their cultural baggage. Hubbard stated that "the thetan is the person. You are YOU in a body." According to Hubbard, the thetan uses the mind as a means of controlling the body. Scientology teaches that the thetan usually resides within the human skull but can also leave the body, either remaining in close contact with it or being separated altogether.

According to Scientology, a person's thetan has existed for trillions of years, having lived countless lifetimes, long before entering a physical body it may now inhabit. In their original form, the thetans were simply energy, separate from the physical universe. Each thetan had its own "Home Universe", and it was through the collision of these that the physical MEST universe emerged. Once MEST was created, Scientology teaches, the thetans began experimenting with human form, ultimately losing knowledge of their origins and becoming trapped in physical bodies. Scientology also maintains that a series of "universal incidents" have undermined the thetans' ability to recall their origins.

Hubbard taught that thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure. The universe has no independent reality but derives its apparent reality from the fact that thetans agree it exists. Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation rather than their original state of spiritual purity. Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.

According to L. Ron Hubbard's 1952 book A History of Man, published in 1952, there are two entities housed by the human body: a genetic entity (whose purpose is to carry on the evolutionary line) and a "Thetan" or consciousness "that has the capacity to separate from body and mind." According to Hubbard, "In man's long evolutionary development the Thetan has been trapped by the engrams formed at various stages of embodiment." Scientology training is aimed at clearing the person of all engrams, thus creating an "Operating Thetan". "Among the abilities of the Operating Thetan is the soul's capacity to leave and operate apart from the body."

People are viewed as spiritual beings that have minds and bodies, and a person's "spiritual essence" is called the "Thetan". Scientology teaches that "a thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else." According to the doctrine, "one does not have a thetan, he is a thetan."

Physical universe

Hubbard referred to the physical universe as the MEST universe, meaning "Matter, Energy, Space and Time". In Scientology's teaching, this MEST universe is separate from the theta universe, which consists of life, spirituality, and thought. Scientology teaches that the MEST universe is fabricated through the agreement of all thetans (souls or spirits) that it exists, and is therefore an illusion that is only given reality through the actions of thetans themselves.

Exteriorization

In Scientology, "exteriorization" refers to the thetan leaving the physical body, if only for a short time, during which it is not encumbered by the physical universe and exists in its original state. Scientology aims to "exteriorize" the thetan from the body so that the thetan remains close to the body and capable of controlling its actions, but not inside of it, where it can confuse "beingness with mass" and the body. In this way, it seeks to ensure the thetan is unaffected by the trauma of the physical universe while still retaining full control of the mind and body. Some Scientologists claim that they experienced exteriorization while auditing.

One of Scientology's goals is to free the thetan from the confines of the physical MEST universe, thus returning it to its original state. This idea of liberating the spiritual self from the physical universe has drawn comparisons with Buddhism. Although Hubbard's understanding of Buddhism during the 1950s was limited, Scientological literature has presented its teachings as the continuation and fulfillment of The Buddha's ideas. In one publication, Hubbard claimed to be both Maitreya, the future enlightened being prophesied in some forms of Mahayana Buddhism, and the Antichrist. Some Scientologists regard Hubbard as Maitreya. The concept of the thetan has also been observed as being very similar to those promulgated in various mid-20th century UFO religions.

According to Lawrence Wright, author of Going Clear, exteriorization "is the sense that one has actually left his physical being behind".

Immortality

Scientology teaches the existence of reincarnation; Hubbard taught that each individual has experienced "past lives", although generally avoided using the term "reincarnation" itself. The movement claims that once a body dies, the thetan enters another body which is preparing to be born. It rejects the idea that the thetan will be born into a non-human animal on Earth. In Have You Lived Before This Life?, Hubbard recounted accounts of past lives stretching back 55 billion years, often on other planets.

At death, the spirit will leave the body: "Life and personality go on. The physical part of the organism ceases to function." Scientology believes in the "immortality of each individual's spirit," therefore making death not a significant worry. The spirit acquires another body necessary for growth and survival. The primary goal is to achieve an individual's true identity.

According to Scientology doctrine, salvation is achieved through "clearing" engrams and implants, the source of human misery, through the auditing process. Salvation is limited to the current life and there is no "final salvation or damnation", author Richard Holloway writes. "Life is not a one-shot deal. There is only the eternal return of life after life." According to Scientology beliefs, "the individual comes back. He has a responsibility for what goes on today since he will experience it tomorrow."

According to Scientology beliefs, Scientology itself is a blend of science and spirituality, with a belief in an immortal spirit and in improving that spirit here on Earth using Scientology's methods. Scientologists do not typically dwell on Heaven or Hell or the afterlife, instead focusing on the spirit. Many Scientologists also belong to other churches.

In the Scientology book, A History of Man, Hubbard discusses that a human's past experiences make up that person's present identity. These include experiences such as atoms, seaweed, plankton, and clams, pointing to the belief in recurring lives.

Eight dynamics

Scientology emphasizes the importance of "survival", subdividing into eight classifications called "the eight dynamics". The optimum solution to any problem is the one that brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics. The eight dynamics are:

  1. The first dynamic is the urge toward survival of self.
  2. The second dynamic is the urge toward survival through sex or procreation. There are two subdivisions: (a) the sexual act itself and (b) the family unit, including the rearing of children.
  3. The third dynamic is the urge toward survival through groups, for example a school, a club, a team, a town, a nation.
  4. The fourth dynamic is the urge toward survival through all mankind.
  5. The fifth dynamic is the urge toward survival through life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish, and vegetation.
  6. The sixth dynamic is the urge toward survival as the physical universe, which is called MEST (for matter, energy, space, time).
  7. The seventh dynamic is the urge toward survival through spirits or as a spirit. Anything spiritual would come under the seventh dynamic.
  8. The eighth dynamic is the urge toward survival through the Supreme Being or infinity.

Hubbard introduced the Scientology cross in the mid-1950s as a religious symbol for Scientology. The eight points of the cross symbolize the eight dynamics.

Supreme being

The Church of Scientology states that it has no set dogma on God and allows individuals to come to their own understanding of God. In Scientology, "vastly more emphasis is given to the godlike nature of the and to the workings of the human mind than to the nature of God." Hubbard did not clearly define God in Scientology. When pressed about their belief, Scientologists mention the "eighth dynamic" which they say is the "God dynamic".

Scientologists affirm the existence of a deity without defining or describing its nature. L. Ron Hubbard wrote in his book Science of Survival, "No culture in the history of the world, save the thoroughly depraved and expiring ones, has failed to affirm the existence of a Supreme Being. It is an empirical observation that men without a strong and lasting faith in a Supreme Being are less capable, less ethical and less valuable." Instead of defining God, members assert that reaching higher states of enlightenment will enable individuals to make their own conclusions about the Supreme Being.

Tone scale

The tone scale is a key construct throughout Scientology and is used to gauge someone's value in society or determine how best to control or communicate with someone. Hubbard introduced the tone scale with his 1951 book Science of Survival and expanded it since then. The concept is a vertical scale of points from −40.0 to +40.0, each representing an emotion or other mental concept. The midpoint is 0.0, labelled "body death". From 0.0 upward is the emotional tone scale, where points such as apathy, grief, fear, anger, boredom, contentment, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and serenity of beingness at the top are labeled. Points below 0.0 are mental concepts rather than emotions, such as shame, blame, regret, sacrifice, hiding, and total failure. In common Scientology parlance, a person high on the tone scale is called uptone or high toned, and one low on the tone scale is called downtone or low toned.

According to Hubbard, one's tone affects a person's attitude, their ability to relate with others, and even body odors. The higher on the scale, the more emotionally alive someone would be. Lower tones, Hubbard asserted, should be exiled from society. During the auditing process, the auditor is trained to observe the client's emotional state using the tone scale, to raise an individual on the tone scale and improve his abilities.

ARC and KRC triangles

Scientology "S and double triangle" symbol, KRC triangle, and ARC triangle

Without reality or some agreement, affinity and communication are absent. Without communication, there can be no affinity or reality. It is only necessary to improve one corner of this very valuable triangle in order to improve the remaining two corners. The easiest corner to improve is Communication: improving one's ability to communicate raises at the same time his affinity for others and life, as well as expands the scope of his agreements.
—L. Ron Hubbard

The Scientology symbol is made up of two triangles with an "S" connecting them. The top triangle is called the KRC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of knowledge, responsibility, and control. The lower triangle is called the ARC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of affinity, reality, and communication, and all three together represent understanding. The large connecting "S" stands for "Scientology".

Scientology teaches that improving one of the three aspects of the KRC or ARC triangle will increase the other two. In the ARC triangle, communication is held to be the most important.

Among Scientologists, the letters ARC are used as an affectionate greeting in personal communication, for example, at the end of a letter. Social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity. These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.

Morals and ethics

Main article: Scientology ethics and justice

Scientology teaches that progress on The Bridge to Total Freedom requires and enables attaining high moral and ethical standards. According to Hubbard, the goal of ethics is to remove impediments to survival, and ethics is essentially a tool to "get technology in", meaning Scientology's use of the term technology. Stephen A. Kent describes Scientology ethics as "a peculiar brand of morality that uniquely benefitted   In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology. In this 'ethical' environment, Scientology would be able to impose its courses, philosophy, and 'justice system' – its so-called technology – onto society."

Gender and sexuality

Main articles: Scientology and gender, Scientology and sex, and Scientology and sexual orientation

Gender and sexuality have been controversial issues in Scientology's history. Women may become ministers and rise through the church ranks in the same manner as men. Hubbard's writing makes androcentric assumptions through its use of language. Critics of Scientology say that Hubbard was a misogynist. Hubbard's use of language was also heteronormative. He described same-sex attraction as a perversion and physical illness, rendering homosexuals "extremely dangerous to society". Various Free Zone Scientologists have alleged that they encountered homophobia within the church. The church's stance on same-sex sexuality has drawn criticism from gay rights activists.

Science

The church considers itself scientific, although this belief has no basis in institutional science. According to religious scholar Mikael Rothstein Scientologists believe that "all religious claims can be verified through experimentation". Scientologists believe that their religion was derived through scientific methods, that Hubbard found knowledge through studying and thinking, not through revelation. The "science" of Dianetics, however, was never accepted by the scientific community. Rothstein also writes that there is a possibility that Scientology partly owes its existence to the conflict with the conventional scientific community, which hindered Hubbard's original intention. Religious scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen notes that Scientology differs from the scientific method in that Scientology has become increasingly self-referential, while true science normally compares competing theories and observed facts.

Hubbard initially claimed and insisted that Dianetics was based on the scientific method. He taught that "the scientific sensibilities over into the spiritual realities one encounters via auditing on the e-meter." Scientologists commonly prefer to describe Hubbard's teachings with words such as knowledge, technology, and workability rather than belief or faith. Hubbard described Dianetics and Scientology as "technologies" based on his claim of their "scientific precision and workability." Hubbard attempted to "break down the barrier between scientific (objective, external) and religious (subjective, internal) forms of knowledge." Hubbard describes Scientology's epistemology as "radically subjective: Nothing in Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it and it is true according to your observation." This is a type of self-legitimation through science which is also found in other religions such as Christian Science, Religious Science, and Moorish Science Temple of America.

Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge cites Scientology's origins in the subcultures of science fiction and "harmony" with scientific cosmology. Science fiction, viewed to work for and against the purposes of science, has contributed to the birth of new religions, including Scientology. While it promotes science, it distorts it as well. Science fiction writer A.E. van Vogt based the early development of Dianetics and Scientology on a novel based on General Semantics, a self-improvement and therapy program created by Alfred Korzybski to cure personal and social issues.

Scientologists believe that Hubbard "discovered the existential truths that form their doctrine through research," thus leading to the idea that Scientology is science. Hubbard created what the church would call a "spiritual technology" to advance the goals of Scientology. According to the church, "Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life." The underlying claims are that Scientology is "exact" and "certain". Michael Shermer, writing for Scientific American in 2011, said that Scientology's methods lacked enough study to qualify as a science, but that the story of Xenu and Scientology's other creation myths were no less tenable than other religions.

B. Hubbard, J. Hatfield, and J. Santucci compare Scientology's view of humanity to the Yogachara school of Buddhism, saying that both have been described as "the most scientific" among new and traditional religions, respectively. They cite technical language and claims that teachings were developed through observation and experimentation. They also emphasize that many investigators and researchers consider Scientology to be a pseudoscience because of its absolute and meta-empirical goals.

Scholar Kocku von Stuckrad stated that Scientology is an example of the phenomenon of both the "scientification of religion" and the "sacralization" of science. Donald A. Westbrook argues that there is an "ongoing and dialectical relationship" between religion and science in Hubbard's teachings.

Rejection of psychology and psychiatry

Further information: Scientology and psychiatry and Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Scientologists at an anti-psychiatry demonstration

The psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories in the early 1950s. Since then, Hubbard was vehemently opposed to psychiatry and psychology. Scientologists view psychiatry as a barbaric and corrupt profession and consider mental illness a fraud. They allege that psychiatrists were responsible for the Holocaust, apartheid and 9/11.

Scientology established the anti-psychiatry lobby group Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) which operates an exhibit Psychiatry: An Industry of Death. CCHR has helped legislators draft bills, though bills in Florida and Utah failed which would have made it a crime for school teachers to suggest to parents that their child might be suffering from a mental health condition.

Practices

See also: L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology bibliography

The church makes it clear that Hubbard is considered the sole source of Dianetics and Scientology: "The Scientology religion is based exclusively upon L. Ron Hubbard's research, writings and recorded lectures – all of which constitute the Scriptures of the religion." His work, recorded in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films, is archived for posterity. The Religious Technology Center holds "the ultimate ecclesiastical authority and the pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's religious technologies."

Individuals applying Hubbard's techniques who are not officially connected to the Church of Scientology are considered part of the "Free Zone". Some of these individuals were litigated against for using and modifying the practices for their own use and that of others, thereby infringing the law on patent, trademarks, or trade secrets.

Contracts and legal waivers

The Church of Scientology requires that all members sign a legal waiver which covers their relationship with the Church of Scientology before engaging in Scientology services.

Auditing

Main article: Auditing (Scientology)

The central practice of Scientology is an activity known as auditing, which seeks to elevate an adherent to a state of Clear, one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an "auditor" addresses a series of questions to a preclear, observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An essential element in all forms of auditing is not to suggest answers to the preclear or invalidate or degrade what the preclear says in response. It is of utmost importance that the auditor create a safe and distraction-free session environment.

The term clear derives from a calculator button that deletes previous calculations. According to Scientology beliefs, Clears are "optimal individuals", and "they have been cleared of false information and memories of traumatic experiences that prevent them from adapting to the world around them in a natural and appropriate fashion." Scientologists believe that clears become more successful in their daily lives and are "healthier, experience less stress, and possess better communication skills than non-Scientologists."

"Auditing" is sometimes considered controversial, because auditing sessions are permanently recorded and stored within "preclear folders". Scientologists believe that the practice of auditing helps them overcome the debilitating effects of traumatic experiences, most of which have accumulated over a multitude of lifetimes. The folders are kept in accordance with the Priest/Penitent legal parameters which do not allow these folders to be seen or used for any other purpose or seen by any others who are not directly involved in supervising that person's auditing progress.

Auditors are required to become proficient with the use of their E-meters. The device measures the subject's galvanic skin response like a polygraph (lie detector), but with only one electrode per hand rather than multiple sensors. The E-meter is primarily used in auditing, which "aims to remove (engrams) to produce a state of 'clear.'" Auditors do not receive final certification until they have completed an internship, and have demonstrated a proven ability in the skills they have been trained in. Auditors often practice their auditing with each other, as well as friends or family. Church members sometimes pair up during training, doing the same course simultaneously so that they can audit each other up through the various Scientology levels.

According to scholar Harriet Whitehead, the Church of Scientology "has developed a fine-tooled hierarchically organized system of audit (training) sessions where the technology of these sessions, in fact, is the treatment leading to processes of renunciation and eventually reformulation in the individual," which is similar to psychoanalysis.

Traumatic memories and the reactive mind

See also: Dianetics and Auditing (Scientology)
A Scientologist introduces the E-meter to a potential student.

Among Scientology's basic tenets are the belief that human beings are immortal, that a person's life experience transcends a single lifetime, and that human beings possess infinite capabilities. Scientology presents two major divisions of the mind. The "reactive mind" is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the "analytical mind" is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness. The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as "engrams". Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity. Avoiding this fate is Scientology's basic goal. Dianetic auditing is one way by which the Scientologist may progress toward the 'Clear' state, winning gradual freedom from the reactive mind's engrams, and acquiring certainty of their reality as a thetan. Hubbard's differentiation of the reactive mind and the analytical mind forms one of the basic tenets of Dianetics. The analytical mind is similar to the conscious mind, which processes daily information and events. The reactive mind produces the mind's "aberrations" such as "fear, inhibition, intense love and hate and various psychosomatic ills" which are recorded as "engrams".

Scientology believes people have hidden abilities that have not yet been fully realized. It is believed that increased spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions referred to as "auditing". Through auditing, it is said that people can solve their problems and free themselves of engrams. This restores them to their natural condition as thetans and enables them to be "at cause" in their daily lives, responding rationally and creatively to life events rather than reacting to them under the direction of stored engrams. Accordingly, those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of "Preclear" to "Clear" and "Operating Thetan". Scientology's utopian aim is to "clear the planet", a world in which everyone has cleared themselves of their engrams.

Auditing is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or "auditor". It bears a superficial similarity to confession or pastoral counseling, but the auditor records and stores all information received and does not dispense forgiveness or advice the way a pastor or priest might do. Instead, the auditor's task is to help people discover and understand engrams and their limiting effects for themselves. Most auditing requires an E-meter, a device that measures minute changes in electrical resistance through the body when a person holds electrodes (metal "cans"), and a small current is passed through them.

Scientology believes that watching for changes in the E-meter's display helps locate engrams. Once an area of concern has been identified, the auditor asks the individual specific questions about it to help them eliminate the engram and uses the E-meter to confirm that the engram's "charge" has been dissipated and the engram has been cleared. As the individual progresses, the focus of auditing moves from simple to increasingly complex engrams. At the more advanced OT auditing levels, Scientologists perform solo auditing sessions, acting as their own auditors.

Silent birth

Main article: Silent birth

Advocated by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, silent birth describes "the process of childbirth where labor and delivery is done in a calm and loving environment." To provide quiet surroundings for the baby's delivery, individuals in their immediate vicinity are prompted not to speak. According to Scientology practices, silent birth is "mandatory to provide the best possible environment for the pregnant mother and her new baby." Shouting, laughing, or making loud remarks must be avoided while the baby is being pushed out. According to The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World, "its origins are fundamentally rooted in the principle that women, particularly expectant mothers, be given the utmost care and respect."

Training

Scientologists also undergo training aside from auditing, which consists of several levels of courses about daily life improvement using various tools and auditing techniques so that members can perform the same procedure as other Scientologists.

Interpretation and context

Scientology discourages secondary interpretation of its writings. Scientologists are taught to consult only official sources, and never convey their own interpretation of concepts in their own words.

Study Technology

Main article: Study Tech

Hubbard described three barriers to study: lack of mass, too steep a gradient, and the misunderstood word. Scientology teaches that a student who learns only ideas, without also seeing the thing in real life that they are studying (the mass) or at least a picture of it, would suffer feeling dizzy or bored or angry—the remedy would be to provide the student with some mass of the thing they are studying. If a student does not know the fundamentals of a subject and advances too quickly to higher levels, they would feel confused—the remedy for too steep a gradient would be to drop back down to the earlier level the person thought they knew well but did not. When a student reads past a word they do not fully understand, they would "go blank", yawn, or seem distracted—the remedy would be to find the word they did not know and look it up in a dictionary, then continue studying.

In Scientology, "misinformation or miscommunication is analogous to original sin, inhibiting individual growth and relationships with others." The "misunderstood word" is a key concept in Scientology, and failure in reading comprehension is attributed to it. Scientology focuses heavily on dictionaries. The Church of Scientology includes glossaries in most books and even publishes several dictionaries covering Scientology-specific terminology, words, phrases, and abbreviations. Critics have accused Hubbard of "loading the language" and using Scientology jargon to keep Scientologists from interacting with others outside of Scientology.

The Bridge to Total Freedom

Main article: The Bridge to Total Freedom

The Bridge to Total Freedom, also known as the "Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart", is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man.  In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!" The current Classification, Gradation, and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization. A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the OT Levels to higher states of awareness and ability.

Detoxification and purification

Main article: Purification Rundown

The Purification Rundown is a controversial detoxification program developed by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard and used by the Church of Scientology as an introductory service. Scientologists consider it the only effective way to deal with the long-term effects of drug abuse or toxic exposure. The program combines exercise, dietary supplements and long stays in a sauna (up to five hours a day for five weeks). It is promoted variously as religious or secular, medical or purely spiritual, depending on context.

Narconon is a drug education and rehabilitation program founded on Hubbard's beliefs about toxins and purification. Narconon is offered in the United States, Canada and some European countries; its Purification Program uses a regimen composed of sauna, physical exercise, vitamins and diet management, combined with auditing and study.

Psychosis and introspection

Main article: Introspection Rundown

The Introspection Rundown is a controversial Church of Scientology auditing process that is intended to handle a psychotic episode or complete mental breakdown. Introspection is defined for this rundown as a condition where the person is "looking into one's own mind, feelings, reactions, etc." The Introspection Rundown came under public scrutiny after the death of Lisa McPherson in 1995.

Ethics, justice and disconnection

Main articles: Scientology ethics and justice, Suppressive person, and Disconnection (Scientology)

Scientology's internal ethics and justice system is designed to deal with unethical or antisocial behavior. Ethics officers are present in every org; they are tasked with ensuring correct application of Scientology technology and deal with violations such as non-compliance with standard procedures or any other behavior adversely affecting an org's performance, ranging from errors and misdemeanors to crimes and suppressive acts, as defined by internal documents. Scientology teaches that spiritual progress requires and enables the attainment of high "ethical" standards. In Scientology, rationality is stressed over morality. Actions are considered ethical if they promote survival across all eight dynamics, thus benefiting the greatest number of people or things possible while harming the fewest.

While Scientology states that many social problems are the unintentional results of people's imperfections, it asserts that there are also genuinely malevolent individuals. Hubbard believed that approximately 80 percent of all people are what he called social personalities – people who welcome and contribute to the welfare of others. The remaining 20 percent of the population, Hubbard thought, were suppressive persons. According to Hubbard, only about 2.5 percent of this 20 percent are hopelessly antisocial personalities; these make up the small proportion of truly dangerous individuals in humanity: "the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords." Scientologists believe that any contact with suppressive or antisocial individuals harms one's spiritual condition, necessitating disconnection.

In Scientology, defectors who turn into critics of the movement are declared suppressive persons, and the Church of Scientology has a reputation for moving aggressively against such detractors. A Scientologist who is actively in communication with a suppressive person and, as a result, shows signs of antisocial behavior is referred to as a potential trouble source.

Fair game

Main article: Fair game (Scientology)

The term fair game describes policies and practices carried out by the Church against people the Church perceives as its enemies. Hubbard established the policy in the 1950s, in response to criticism both from within and outside his organization. Individuals or groups who are "fair game" are judged to be a threat to the Church and, according to the policy, can be punished and harassed using any and all means possible.

Hubbard and his followers targeted many individuals as well as government officials and agencies, including a program of covert and illegal infiltration of the IRS and other U.S. government agencies during the 1970s. They also conducted private investigations, character assassination and legal action against the Church's critics in the media. The policy remains in effect and has been defended by the Church of Scientology as a core religious practice.

Holidays

Scientology celebrates seven main holidays each year:

  • L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, March 13, celebrates Scientology's achievements during the prior year
  • Dianetics Day, May 9, marks the anniversary of the 1950 publication of Dianetics
  • Maiden Anniversary Voyage: June 9 is the anniversary of the maiden voyage of the ship Freewinds.
  • Sea Org Day is held on August 12
  • Auditor's Day is the second Sunday in September
  • The IAS event, October 7, celebrates the anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Scientologists
  • New Year's event, December 31

Sunday services

A Scientology Sunday service has a sermon, similar to some other religions. It typically begins at 11 am, and Hubbard's writings are read aloud during the service. Like other religions' services, music is played, and sometimes performances are enjoyed. The minister speaks on Scientology doctrine, announces the weekly activities of the community and recent updates from churches around the world. Scientologists also say "A Prayer for Total Freedom", asking the "author of the universe" to help them as they seek enlightenment.

The way Scientology's service has been executed has not changed. The minister chooses from limited possible sermons and group processing exercises. He creates the sermon within a literal interpretation of Hubbard's canonical teachings, functioning similarly to other indigenous theologians who work with canonical texts.

According to religious studies scholar James R. Lewis, Sunday services are for interested non-members, and the holidays and events are for existing members of the church.

Rituals

The church's rituals can be categorized in four ways: first, rituals performed for spiritual transformation; second, collective ceremonies usually called events, including Hubbard's birthday; third, rites of passage, including weddings and funerals; and fourth, those that mimic Christian rituals, such as Sunday services. Events include the anniversary of Dianetics, the anniversary of Freewinds, and Auditor's Day.

Splinter groups: independents, Miscavige's RTC, and squirreling

Hubbard's beliefs and practices, drawn from a diverse set of sources, influenced numerous offshoots, splinter groups, and new movements

While "Scientology" generally refers to the David Miscavige-led Church of Scientology, other groups are practicing Scientology. These groups, collectively known as the Free Zone or as Independent Scientologists, consist of both former members of the Church of Scientology and new followers of the movement. In 1965, a longtime Church member and "Doctor of Scientology" Jack Horner, dissatisfied with the Church's "ethics" program, developed Dianology. Bill Robertson, a former Sea Org member, was a primary instigator of the Free Zone in the early 1980s. The church labels these groups as "squirrels" in Scientology jargon and often subjects them to considerable legal and social pressure.

On January 1, 1982, Miscavige established the Religious Technology Center (RTC). Shortly thereafter, individuals began splintering off the Church of Scientology and forming groups in what they called the "Free Zone". Most notable was the ousting of David Mayo, Hubbard's own auditor and the highest-ranking technical officer in Scientology whom Hubbard had appointed successor guardian of Scientology's doctrines. After his removal, Mayo established the Advanced Ability Center, which became quite successful until it was bankrupted in 1986 by years of litigation and harassment from the Church of Scientology.

In the mid-2000s, high-profile defectors Mark Rathbun and Mike Rinder represented and stood for the cause of Independent Scientologists wishing to practice Scientology outside of the Church.

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