Scientology
The word Scientology literally means "the study of truth." It comes from the Latin word "scio" meaning"knowing in the fullest sense of the word" and the Greek word "logos" meaning "study of." Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life. The Scientology religion comprises a body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these: Man is an immortal, spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realised — and those capabilities can be realised.
He is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.
In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.
The ultimate goal of Scientology
is true spiritual enlightenment and
freedom for the individual.
L. Ron Hubbard was the founder
of Dianetics and Scientology and the
author of the Scientology scripture. His
research on the spirit, the mind and life
is recorded in the tens of millions of
words which comprise Dianetics and
Scientology. His works cover subjects as
diverse as drug rehabilitation, education,
marriage and family, success at work,
administration, art and many other
aspects of life.
His best-selling book Dianetics:
The
Modern Science of Mental Health alone
has sold millions of copies and continues
to appear on the New York Times and
other bestseller lists around the world,
nearly five decades after its original
publication.
In Scientology, the concept of God is
expressed as the eighth dynamic — the
urge toward existence as infinity, as
God or the Supreme Being or Author
of the Universe.
One fundamental factor that runs throughout Scientology's view of the universe is that the primary goal of all life forms is towards infinite survival. The urge is so powerful and so universal that it is known as the "dynamic principle of existence." This principle is itself divided into eight distinct parts, called the "eight dynamics." The first dynamic is SELF. This is the effort to survive as an individual. It includes one's own body and one's own mind. This dynamic includes the individual plus his immediate possessions.
The second dynamic is CREATIVITY. Creativity is making things for the future and the second dynamic includes any creativity. The second dynamic contains the family unit and rearing the children as well as anything that can be categorized as a family activity. It also incidentally includes sex as a mechanism to compel future survival.
The third dynamic is GROUP SURVIVAL. This is the urge to survive through a group of individuals or as a group. A group can be a community, friends, a company, a social lodge, a state, a nation, a race or in short, any group.
The fourth dynamic is SPECIES. Man's fourth dynamic is the species of mankind. This is the urge toward survival through all mankind and as all mankind. Whereas the Australian nationality would be considered a third dynamic for all Australians, all the nationalities of the world together would be considered the fourth dynamic.
The fifth dynamic is LIFE FORMS.
This is the urge to survive as life forms
and with the help of life forms such
as animals, birds, insects, fish and
vegetation. This includes all living
things whether animal or vegetable,
anything directly and intimately
motivated by life.
The sixth dynamic is PHYSICAL UNIVERSE. The physical universe has four components. These are matter, energy, space and time.
The sixth dynamic is the urge to survive of the physical universe by the physical universe itself and with the help of the physical universe and each one of its component parts.
The seventh dynamic is the SPIRITUAL DYNAMIC, the urge to survive as spiritual beings or the urge for life itself to survive. Anything spiritual, with or without identity, would come under the heading of the seventh dynamic. It includes one's beingness, the ability to create, the ability to cause survival or to survive, the ability to destroy or pretend to be destroyed. This is separate from the physical universe and is the source of life itself.
The eighth dynamic is the urge toward existence as INFINITY. The eighth dynamic also is commonly called God, the Supreme Being or Creator, but it is correctly defined as infinity. This is why, according to L. Ron Hubbard,"when the seventh dynamic is reached in its entirety one will only then discover the true eighth dynamic."
As the eighth dynamic, Scientology’s concept of God rests at the very apex of universal survival. As L. Ron Hubbard wrote in 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 to themselves and society... A man without an abiding faith is, by observation alone, more of a thing than a man.”
Unlike religions with Judeo-Christian origins, the Church of Scientology has no set dogma concerning God that it imposes on its members. As with all its beliefs, Scientology does not ask individuals to believe anything on faith. Rather, as one’s level of spiritual awareness increases through participation in Scientology auditing and training, he attains his own certainty of every dynamic and, as he moves from the seventh (spiritual) dynamic to the eighth, will come to his own understanding of infinity and God and his relationship to it.
Scientology seeks to bring one to a new level of spiritual awareness where he can reach his own conclusions concerning the nature of God (or the Supreme Being or infinity) and what lies in store for him after his present lifetime. Thus, like many Eastern religions, salvation in Scientology is attained through personal spiritual growth and enlightenment. Scientologists believe the thetan (spirit) has lived lifetime after lifetime. The manifestation that our hereafter is our next life entirely alters the concepts of ethics and morality and the general concept of spiritual destiny. It is certain that an individual experiences, in his next lifetime, the civilization he had a part in creating today. With this knowledge comes an Increase in responsibility to help make that tomorrow a good one to return to. This is also one of the reasons you find Scientologists taking an active part in social betterment activities in their communities and the world at large— they know they will return to it.
The Critics
The high profile celebrity status of
Scientology comes at a price with the
religion attracting almost as many as
detractors as supporters. There are
websites which claim “The Church of
Scientology is a vicious and dangerous
cult that masquerades as a religion. Its
purpose is to make money. It practices a
variety of mind-control techniques on
people lured into its midst to gain control
over their money and their lives. Its aim
is to take from them every penny that
they have and can ever borrow and to
also enslave them to further its wicked
ends.” The suggestion is that the religions
founder, a science fiction writer, was only
seeking to start a religion to make money.
Critics claim, “It is an offshoot to a
method of psychotherapy he concocted
from various sources which he named"Dianetics". Dianetics is a form of
regression therapy. It was then further
expanded to appear more like a religion
in order to enjoy tax benefits. He called it"Scientology", which is nothing more
than a confused concoction of crackpot,
dangerously applied psychotherapy,
oversimplified, idiotic and inapplicable
rules and ideas and science-fiction drivel
that is presented to its members (at the"advanced" levels) as profound spiritual
truth. The results of applying their
crackpot psychotherapy (called"auditing") is to weaken the mind. The
mind goes from a rational state to an
irrational one as the delusional contents
of the subconscious mind are brought to
the surface and are assumed to be valid.
It also makes a person more susceptible
to suggestion since it submerges the
critical thinking faculties of the mind into
a partial subconscious state. It results in
a permanent light hypnotic trance and so
from thenceforth that person can be more
easily controlled.”
I N F O R M AT I O N
The information on Scientology contained in this article comes from www.scientology.org.au and www.scientology.org. If you would like to read in detail about some of the criticisms then visit www.xenu.net