About the Church of Scientology®

Scientology Beliefs:

The word "Scientology" means "the study of knowledge or truth." The Scientology religion
holds that man is basically good, not evil. It teaches that it is their experiences that cause
people to commit evil deeds. It is not their basic nature to do so. People can mistakenly
solve their problems by thinking only of their own personal interests and overlook or ignore
how their acts affect others. This creates interpersonal strife and problems. The Scientology
religion also holds that individuals advance to the degree they preserve their spiritual
integrity and values, and remain honest and decent — indeed, individuals deteriorate to the
degree they abandon these qualities.

Some religions try to help humanity by solving people's problems for them. Scientology is
different — it believes in increasing the ability and intelligence of the individual so he or
she can improve his own life, overcome those factors that hold him down, and solve his or
her own problems. What's more, once one has accomplished this he or she naturally starts
to reach out to help his family, friends and society.

According to Scientology, the individual is not a body but a spirit. However there have
been so many different concepts of the term soul through the ages that a new term was
needed. The term chosen by Mr. Hubbard was "thetan" from the Greek letter theta, the
traditional symbol for thought and life. The thetan is the person himself, not his body, his
name, the physical universe or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the
identity that IS the individual.

One phenomenon of the spirit or thetan, researched by Mr. Hubbard, is exteriorization.

Exteriorization is the ability of the thetan to leave the body and exist independent of the
flesh. Exteriorized, the individual can see without the body's eyes, hear without the body's
ears and feel without the body's hands. Man previously had little understanding of this
detachment from his mind and body. With the act of exteriorization, attainable in
Scientology, the individual gains the certainty that he is himself, an immortal spiritual
being, and not a body.

Some basic Scientology concepts that assist a person to better understand life better are:

The Eight Dynamics of Existence: A "dynamic" is an urge, drive or impulse towards

survival. With an understanding of these dynamics a person gains insight and can bring
 all aspects of his life into alignment. The first four dynamics were initially described by
Mr. Hubbard in his texts on Dianetics in 1950. He expanded this to encompass four
additional zones of existence the following year when he began research into the spiritual
nature of man. These dynamic urges are best viewed as a series of concentric circles
moving out from the first to the eighth:
The First Dynamic is the urge to survive as oneself.
The Second is the urge to survive through family and sex and the rearing of children.
The Third is the urge to survive in groups small and large — a company, a group of
friends, a city, a nation.
The Fourth is the urge to survive as mankind.
The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth are the urges to survive through other life forms
such as animals and plants, the physical universe, the spiritual universe and Infinity or
Supreme Being respectively.
Scientology teaches that by simply delineating these dynamics, it clarifies and brings
order into existence. One can observe these dynamics in one's own life, note which need
improvement and through the use of Scientology principles bring these factors into
greater harmony.
Affinity, Reality and Communication: A concept of considerable importance in the
Scientology religion is the principle of affinity, reality and communication. These three
factors, expressed as a triangle, are enormously important in interpersonal relations.
Affinity is the degree of liking or affection or lack of it for someone or something.
Reality is agreement on the solid things of life, or concepts mutually held between
individuals. Communication is the interchange of ideas, perceptions or objects between
two or more people.

The concept is that when one corner of the triangle goes up, the other two corners also go
up. Conversely, when one corner goes down, the other corners also go down. So when
one establishes good communication with someone and agreement on some subject,
affinity rises. Conversely, when there is a disagreement, affinity lowers as does
communication.

These three factors — affinity, reality and communication — add up to understanding.

When one really understands something, he or she is in good communication with it, has
affinity for it and understands what it is about.

The ARC triangle has many uses in life. By gaining skill in raising the corners of this
triangle one can increase understanding and improve relationships with anyone.

http://www.beliefnet.com

What Scientologists Believe

 Central tenets of Scientology, based on the questions in the Belief-O-Matic quiz.

• Belief in Deity
Scientology considers the belief in a God or gods as something personal and therefore
offers no specific dogma. The nature of the Supreme Being is revealed personally through
each individual as s/he becomes more conscious and spiritually aware. There exists a life
energy or force (Theta) beyond and within all.

• Incarnations
There are no particular human incarnations of God, as the universal life force (Theta) is
inherent in all. All humans are immortal spiritual beings (thetans) capable of realizing a
nearly godlike state through Scientology practices.

• Origin of Universe and Life

All is manifestation of the universal spirit, which is all that actually exists.

• After Death
Rebirths continue until one consciously confronts all pre-birth, current-life, and previous-
life traumas and realizes one's true nature as a "thetan," immortal spirit--transcending
matter, energy, space, and time. Achieving this state enables the spirit to escape the cycle of
birth and death--to operate independently of the physical universe and become one with
God.

• Why Evil?
Painful experiences and harmful acts in one's prebirth, current, and past lives become
imprinted in the reactive mind and lead to irrational behavior. Departures from rational
thought and untrue ideas ("aberrations") can result in wrongdoing.

• Salvation
Salvation is achieved through the practices and techniques of Scientology, the ultimate goal
of which is to realize one's true nature as an immortal spirit, a thetan. The path to salvation,
or enlightenment, includes achieving states of increasingly greater mental awareness--Pre-
Clear, Clear, and ultimately Operating Thetan. An Operating Thetan is a spirit who can
control matter, energy, space, time, thought, and life. Practitioners ("Auditors") are
regarded as ministers and counselors who assist others to achieve self-enlightenment.
Auditors help others to identify their prebirth, current, and past-life disturbances, which are
obstacles to happiness and spiritual enlightenment.
 • Undeserved Suffering
Suffering occurs as part of the spirit's entrapment here in the physical universe. Only when
the individual is aware of his spiritual nature can he identify his barriers within the universe
and overcome them, rising out of a lower state and into a higher state of happiness and
freedom.

• Contemporary Issues
Based on the belief that you cannot free yourself spiritually without working to free others,
Scientology has founded and supports many organizations for social betterment,
particularly in the areas of drug abuse, crime, psychiatric abuse, government abuse of law,
human rights, religious freedom, education, and morality. Scientology strongly favors the
use of their methodology for spiritual/mental healing over the use of conventional
treatment.