Branch, R. (1997). A discussion on the church of scientology. Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

OVERVIEW

The following discussion is reprinted with permission from Watchman Fellowship, Inc. The author is Rick Branch.

Founded by Lafayette Ron Hubbard in 1953, Scientology produces scores of publications.

A short list includes Source, The Delphian, Advance!, The Auditor, and the main textbook, Dianetics. All authority resides in the top leadership. While there are numerous organizations throughout the world, all are directed and controlled by the few men at the top. U.S. headquarters are in Los Angeles and Clearwater, Florida.

UNIQUE TERMS

The theology of Scientology contains hundreds of unique terms which were either coined by Hubbard (e.g., Thetan) or are acrostics (e.g., MEST: Matter, Energy, Space, Time). Those which are most important will be discussed under the Doctrinal section in this Profile.

OTHER NAMES

There are numerous sub-organizations in the Church of Scientology. Some of the more prominent would include Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, Religious Technology Center, and FLAG. Some of the more clandestine vehicles for recruitment and dissemination of Scientology are its affiliated agencies, most of which are part of W.I.S.E. (Worldwide Institute of Scientology Enterprises). They are groups like Sterling Management, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Citizens Against Taxes, The Way to Happiness Campaign, Hollander Consultants; Irons, Marcus it closes down the analytical mind. So, we have coined the word anaten. It is a contraction of the two words analytical attenuation (Attenuation means shutting or closing down).” (Research and Discovery Series: A Running Record of Research into the Mind and Life, Vol. 3, pp. 114-115)

This engram is thus that “mental picture” which “contains, as part of its content, unconsciousness and physical pain” and is stored in the individual’s mind. (Dianetics and Scientology: Technical Dictionary, p. 114) But which mind?

As Hubbard explained, every person has two minds—the analytical mind and the reactive mind. Both having very specific functions, though not necessarily beneficial functions. In the booklet, Basic Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology, the two minds are defined in the following ways: “analytical mind: In Dianetics and Scientology the analytical mind is the one which is alert and aware and the reactive mind simply reacts without analysis.” It continues with, “reactive mind: the portion of the mind which works on a stimulus-response basis. It consists of locks, secondaries, engrams and chains of them and is the single source of human aberrations and psychosomatic ills.” (pp. 2, 23)

Thus, Man in his true nature is an immortal thetan. However, the thetan is responsible for the creation of MEST. Though the thetan created the MEST, sometimes the MEST collides with the thetan resulting in the acquisition of an engram. Because every engram is accompanied by unconsciousness to a greater or lesser degree, not all engrams are known to exist by the thetan’s analytical mind. As a result of the build-up of thousands of known and unknown engrams, stored in his reactive mind, man seems to experience problems throughout his life. These engrams have accumulated not only in this life but in many past lives as well through reincarnation. Thus, it is Scientology’s purpose to rid the thetan of these unwanted engrams. How is this accomplished? By becoming Clear.

In defining Clear, Hubbard used an interesting analogy. Clear is “The name of a button on an adding machine. When you push it, all the hidden answers in the machine clear and the machine can be used for a proper computation. So long as the button is not pressed the machine adds all old answers to all new efforts to compute and wrong answers result. Really, that’s all a Clear is. Clears are beings who have been Cleared of wrong answers or useless answers which keep them from living or thinking.” The Clear “can create energy at will, and can handle and control, erase or re-create an analytical mind or reactive mind. The Clear has no engrams which can be restimulated to throw out the correctness of computations by entering hidden and false data in it.” (Dianetics and Scientology: Technical Dictionary, pp. 75-76)

Hence the thetan who has reached the desired state of Clear has, in actuality, become a blank slate simply waiting for new data to be entered. As Hubbard explained in a lecture series, “ you have to have a new education if you are going to change a clear’s viewpoint.” (Research and Discovery Series, Vol. 2, p. 408) Thus, the new data, given by Scientology is not merely a rearrangement of already existing beliefs and ideas. Rather, it is completely “new” material, which is precisely what is needed for the “new education.” Without this new education it is impossible to reach the state of Clear. But if Clear is a higher state of being to which all should desire to evolve, then how is this to be accomplished? By the Scientology practice of Auditing.

Remember, the reactive mind consists of “locks” and chains of engrams. In order for the thetan to be declared Clear, the reactive mind with its engrams must be removed by auditing. “The reactive mind is removed by ‘returning’ the pre-clear to the engram, and laying its contents before the scrutiny of the analytical mind.” (Dianetics: The Original Thesis, p. 54)

Once the engram is openly expressed by the pre-clear (Scientology student), then “Auditing gets rid of unwanted barriers that inhibit, stop or blunt a person’s natural abilities as well as gradiently increasing the abilities a person has so that he becomes more able and his survival, happiness and intelligence increase enormously. An activity of an auditor taking over the control of and shepherding the attention of a pc [pre-clear] so as to bring about a higher level of confront ability.” (Dianetics and Scientology: Technical Dictionary, p. 28, parenthesis added). After the thetan has remembered the engram, it is then removed from the reactive mind during the auditing session with the aid of the Scientology E-Meter. This device, similar in function to a lie-detector, is said to be “An electronic instrument for measuring mental state and change of state in individuals, as an aid to precision and speed in auditing.” (Basic Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology, p. 11).

It has been correctly observed that to summarize the basic theology of Scientology in a few words is indeed a difficult task. However, in the beginning were the thetans. These were to eventually create the MEST, which in actuality would not be the best thing they could have done. For when the thetan, who inhabits the MEST comes into conflict with other MEST, an engram is recorded in the reactive mind. This engram, whether it be remembered or not, due to unconsciousness which accompanies every engram, is stored in the reactive mind and causes the thetan to believe false data [erroneous ideas]. It is the purpose of Scientology, through its auditing efforts to rid the thetan of all engrams so that in turn that thetan, who now possesses a new educational perspective on reality, as a result of the auditing, may advance to a higher state of being or Clear.

Despite claims that its doctrines do not conflict with other religions including Christianity, Scientology theology is alien and hostile to Christianity blending Occultism, Eastern mysticism and science fiction. “Hubbard attacked Christianity as an ‘implant’ and said Christ was fiction.” (A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 383) Hubbard wrote, “neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OT’s [Operating Thetans] according to the evidences, they were just a shade above clear.” (Certainty, Vol. 5, No. 10)