This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Terryeo (talk | contribs) at 06:19, 15 February 2006 (Cause over MEST, yes. any who can throw a brick is cause over MEST. By mind alone? HA ! find a published document.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 06:19, 15 February 2006 by Terryeo (talk | contribs) (Cause over MEST, yes. any who can throw a brick is cause over MEST. By mind alone? HA ! find a published document.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In Scientology, MEST is an acronym for "Matter, Energy, Space and Time", considered by Scientologists to be the four component parts of the physical universe.
This term is frequently used in writings and lectures by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and also is commonly used in exchanges between Scientologists. Scientologists believe that, through the application of Scientology auditing techniques, it is possible to eventually attain "cause over MEST".
According to Scientology, all humans are animated by a Thetan, which is roughly equivalent to the idea of a "soul" or "spirit", and considered separate from the physical body. In Hubbard's teachings, our Thetans have become contaminated or debased by the influences of MEST, which must be transcended.
Rick Branch, a critic of Scientology, says: "Hubbard and Scientology would have America and the World believe that Man is an immortal Thetan, able to create MEST. However, not all MEST is good MEST. Sometimes MEST comes into conflict with the Thetan, resulting in an engram. As Scientology endeavors to render this MEST mess intelligible they write, "An engram comes about when the individual organism suffers an intense impact with MEST. Every moment of physical pain contains with it a partial or major shutdown of the analytical function of the mind" (Science of Survival, Book Two, p. 28). Thus, an engram is a memory which is caused when any accidental event (be it major or minor) is experienced. However, at the instant that the engram is formed, often the person is unaware of the event."
Stacy Brooks, of the Lisa McPherson Trust, observes: "This is how Scientologists are taught to think: The Genetic Entity is the part of a person that is still tied to the universe of Matter, Energy, Space and Time - known as the MEST Universe in Scientology -- that we will leave behind when we are able to become stably exterior with full perceptics. This is the real goal of a Scientologist - to be free of the MEST Universe, to be able to discard the body and be completely free of the limitations of MEST. When enough Scientologists reach that goal (a goal which no one to my knowledge has yet attained) and Planet Earth has been cleared, they will be able to travel at will anywhere in the galaxy to clear other planets and, eventually, the entire MEST Universe. They will do this without the encumbrance of their bodies, of course. They will be free of their bodies. They will just pick up new bodies on whatever planet they go to. They might be meat bodies like the ones on Earth, or they might be doll bodies, or any of a variety of other kinds of bodies thetans use throughout the MEST Universe. But the point is that they will be able to mock them up at will, because they will be totally at cause over MEST."