Basic Questions about Scientology Principles

martin jeffrey asked:

Hi Grahame,

I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan. More specifically, I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain, or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

Further I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Sorry if my question seems a bit off mark, Scientology is an entirely new set of concepts for me.

Thanks

Hey Martin,

Excellent questions. They are totally answered in the book "Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought", but to save you the wait after you order it :) , here is the short version:

I'd recommend watching this video if you haven't already: "The Parts of Man". It gives you some useful background data in just a couple of minutes. I think it will help with understanding my explanation.

Now let's define our terms. Definitions from The Scientology Glossary.

Thetan: the person himself - not his body or his name, the physical universe, his mind, or anything else; that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual. The term was coined to eliminate any possible confusion with older concepts. It comes from the Greek letter Theta (Theta), which the Greeks used to represent thought or perhaps spirit, to which an n is added to make a noun in the modern style used to create words in engineering.

Mind: a control system between the thetan and the physical universe. The mind is not a brain.

Body: the organized physical composition or substance of an animal or man, whether living or dead. The body is the thetan’s communication center. It is a physical object. It is not the being himself.

Your Questions:

Q1: I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan.

A thetan is the person him or herself. The mind is the computer a thetan uses to store memories, make decisions, calculate things, etc.

Q2: I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain.

No. They are products of the thetan.

Q3: or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

No. The brain can be thought of as a sort of switch-board for the nerve impulses sent around the body. Emotion comes from the thetan, but can be influenced by the body and environment. Memories are recordings of the physical universe and the thoughts and conclusions of the thetan.

Q4: I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Definition of reactive mind: that portion of a person’s mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under his volitional control and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions.

The reactive mind is not part of either the brain or the thetan. It is the part of the mind where moments of pain and unconsciousness are stored and thus is a difficult place for the thetan to get his attention into and is therefore not under his control.

I hope I've answered your questions. For more details you really have to read the book I linked to above.

If I haven't answered well enough or my answers have brought up more questions, then just ask some more.

The Basic Individual

Here's a quote I really like from the book Dianetics: The Original Thesis.

The basic individual is not a buried, unknown or different person, but an intensity of all that is best and most able in the person.

This is not just an opinion, but is what was actually discovered during the early days of Dianetics research.  The basic individual is you once the traumas, large and small, have been released from your life.  That's something you can achieve through Dianetics and Scientology.

Acting Contrary to Survival - Why?

I'm currently studying the fundamentals of Scientology. What we call the "Basics". What I'm doing is studying everything chronologically. I started with the book "Dianetics: The Original Thesis", which was the first description of Dianetics, passed around from hand-to-hand first by friends of L. Ron Hubbard and then by many more interested people.

I'm well past Original Thesis now, but today I was looking back at some of my notes and I found some things that I thought I'd share.

This first quote explains what is behind actions that you or others have taken that didn't make any sense.  For example, with all we know now about the damage drugs such as cocaine and heroine can do, why is it that people still take them?  Why is it that a suicide bomber does what he does?  Why is it that Joe yelled at Mary when in fact he loves her?  Why on earth did a seemingly successful marriage suddenly break up?

The explanation is in this first quote.  And it leads to solutions for all of the examples I gave and for any other behavior that just doesn't seem to make any sense.  Those solutions can all be found in Scientology.

Here is the quote from the book Dianetics: The Original Thesis:

When the individual is acting contrary to the survival of himself, his group, progeny, race, mankind or life, he can be considered to be unintelligent, uninformed or aberrated.

Unintelligent and uninformed are relatively easy to handle, but "aberrated" can be much more difficult.  The good new is that it is what Scientology and Dianetics handle successfully every day.

Selfish Spirituality

Jonathan said: I just get the feeling that with the clearing of the reactive mind, that morals would fly out the window as the search for spiritual ends, in the end are selfish, and your told to do it for yourself. I believe that people are good, But when environments make it SO easy to be bad, and even rewarded in cases that clearer lines should be made about how much you do it for yourself.

Thanks for your comments Jonathan.

You say "the search for spiritual ends, in the end, are selfish". If that comes from your own personal observation, then that is sad. Personally, I have found that the search for the spiritual is very far from selfish.

As an example, would you call Mother Teresa selfish? I sure wouldn't.

Let me give you the Scientology view on this:

First: the dynamic principle of existence is SURVIVE! In other words that is the driving force behind everything we do.

Next: the purpose of the mind is to resolve problems relating to survival.

And third: When we talk about survival we don't mean just for oneself, we are talking about survival of self, ones family, the groups one is part of, of mankind, of all living things, of the physical universe, of all things spiritual and of God or Infinity.

The analytical mind in its optimum state tries to bring about the best possible survival in all those areas, not just self.

The reactive mind gets in the way of this. The selfish and destructive things you see in this world are products of the reactive mind.

Once a person has gotten rid of his reactive mind, all that is left is the analytical mind - the optimum mind. So a Clear acts in the best interests of all and a Clear is as active as he can be in that direction. He or she works toward the best possible survival for all the areas I mentioned above.

So, in my experience, people who are improving spiritually become more and more interested in the rest of existence and they become more and more active in helping others - that's why the Scientology Volunteer Ministers are such a huge organization and why you see them whenever disaster strikes. They have improved enough spiritually that they want to, and do, help others.

You say "you're told to do it for yourself". Perhaps there are religions where that is the case, but Scientology is not one of them. Yes, it does require active participation if you want to improve spiritually, and yes, it is necessary sometimes to look inward at your own existence in order to understand yourself, but it is not a solo effort, you need to both give and receive help in order to make it.

I hope your own path towards the spiritual is successful and that you too can help others be unselfish and help their fellow man.

Scientology Logic and Political Solutions

Although "logic" is a very important subject, the tools and methods you can use to come up with logical conclusions and solutions are not well defined. If you don't believe me then just wade through the Wikipedia article on "Logic" and afterwards try to apply something from it to your everyday life to come up with a decision. Good luck.

This lack of tools for logical reasoning is manifested all over our society, but one of the most obvious places is in the field of government. Sadly this is a field where logic is most needed and where it is apparently least used.

The recently concluded war over the debt ceiling was a horrible example of this and almost every day we see others.

I'm not going to attempt to solve the country's financial problems in this article, but I will attempt to help you understand, a little better, the type of logic being used.

In Scientology we have practical and workable descriptions of Logic and we have many tools that are easy to use when you need to come up with logical solutions.

In observing the back-and-forth up on Capitol Hill and in the White House here is what immediately comes to mind for me: They are working on "Two-valued Logic".

So, what is that?

Back in the middle of last century, when he was trying to figure out what made man tick, L. Ron Hubbard had to first work out what was "logic". One of the first things he did was describe the evolution of logic:

"Ancient Times: One-Valued Logic. Exists as the logic of 2/3 world's population today as 'Fatalism'. No Decision. All action based on "The Will of Fate." No Right - No Wrong.

Dark Ages: Two-Valued Logic. Absolute Right or Wrong. Wrong. Right.

Present: Three-Valued Logic. In general use, 1949. Wrong. Maybe. Right."

Two-Valued Logic is the sort of logic sports fans use: "My team is good. The other team sucks."

Three-Valued Logic is used in computers: The smallest value a computer deals with is 1 (right), 0 (wrong) or no-value (maybe).

If you are willing to cast aside your political biases for a moment and just look at what is, then I think you will see that the main method of logic being used in attempting to solve the country's problems is mostly Two-Valued Logic: If you are a Republican then what your side says is right and what the Democrats say is wrong. If you are a Democrat then what your side says is right and what the Republicans say is wrong.

This is the method of logic that was used in the Dark Ages and so the solutions coming out of Washington are of the quality you'd expect from a pitched battle in the muddy fields of Medieval Europe.

Some in Washington have managed to rise to the level of Three-Valued Logic: "Maybe some of the suggestions from the other side aren't all wrong." But that's about as high as it gets.

The sort of logic they should be using was first described by L. Ron Hubbard in a 1950 lecture and is called "Infinity-Valued Logic". This type of logic has "degrees of right" and "degrees of wrong". "Absolute Right or Wrong Unobtainable."

He described this more fully in a set of rules of logic called "The Logics". In one of these rules he said:

"Gradient scales are necessary to the evaluation of problems and their data.

This is the tool of infinity-valued logic: Absolutes are unobtainable. Terms such as good and bad, alive and dead, right and wrong are used only in conjunction with gradient scales. On the scale of right and wrong, everything above zero or center would be more and more right, approaching an infinite rightness, and everything below center would be more and more wrong, approaching infinite wrongness. ... Any datum has only relative truth. ... Truth is relative to environments, experience and truth."

So "suggestion A" for solving some political crisis is not "right" or "wrong" but is relatively right or wrong. If right is 10 and wrong is 1 then maybe it scores at 6. Maybe "suggestion B" gets a score of 7. If we rate all suggestions and then take the top 10 perhaps a workable solution acceptable to both sides could be derived.

This is how thinking should be done and how solutions should be derived.

One can only hope that at some time in the future our government will catch up with the rest of us and move out of the Dark Ages when it comes to the method of logic it uses.

What is Study Technology?

Study Technology is a set of methods you can use to enable you to study any subject successfully. Can you imagine the difference it could make in your life if you could study and actually understand ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO?

I can tell you from personal experience that it works. I've used it to keep ahead in a very technical field that is always changing and advancing (software development) and I've used it to learn other things both for pleasure and for getting things done in life.

Here is a link to a video introducing Study Technology. The link will also take you to a free online course you can take in Study Technology.

So check it out, try it out and tell me how it goes.

The Scientology Cross

Jay asked: Hello, Can you tell me why there is a cross in your logo? I thought that you accepted all religious beliefs, if so would that not offend others. Jay

Thanks for your question. Although most people think of the cross as a Christian symbol, it actually predates Christianity and was long used as a symbol for representing the freeing of the spirit from the material: the shaft represents the spirit moving up toward freedom and the bar represents the material universe attempting, but failing, to block it.

The Scientology Cross has that meaning plus it adds four extra points in the center so that it has eight points altogether. Those eight point represent the eight parts that Scientologists split life into in order to understand it better - what we call the Eight Dynamics.

For more information on the Scientology Cross and what it represents check out these links:
- What is the Scientology Cross?
- What does the Scientology cross represent?
- Scientology Insignia
- Video explaining the Eight Dynamics
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What do Scientologists Believe?

hijabilicious asked:
Could you tell me what scientologists believe in? I tried to look it up but it sounds really complicating, and what happens to a person who reaches the clear-level? could you please explain in a non-complicated way? thnx beforehand

Thanks for the question.

The simplest one liner is: Scientologists believe that each person is a spiritual being who has abilities that are way more than anyone ever thought and he or she thinks they can regain these abilities through the methods discovered in Scientology.

There is a lot more to it, but that is the simplest one-sentence explanation I could come up with.

The "basic principles" section of the Scientology web site says:

"It comprises a vast body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths, and prime among those truths: Man is a spiritual being endowed with abilities well beyond those which he normally envisions. He is not only able to solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but he can achieve new states of awareness he may never have dreamed possible"

What is Clear? The simplest one-sentence explanation I can give you is: A Clear is someone who has had the negative part of his mind cleared up so that he or she can live life to the fullest.

Again, there is a lot more to it. The section of the Scientology web site that deals with the Clear says:

A Clear is free with his emotions. He can think for himself. ... Clears are self-confident, happy and generally successful in both careers and interpersonal relationships. It is a highly desirable state for any individual and is attainable by virtually anyone. In fact, thousands upon thousands of people have achieved the state of Clear ...

Does that help?

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Scientology: The Basics versus The Beginning Books

Mr.Pete brought up an excellent point: "I think a little more distinction between the Basic and Beginning books would be helpful rather than just links to them."

"The Basics" are a big deal right now in Scientology. They are mentioned a lot by Scientologists and there have been questions about them in comments on this blog. So I think I'd better clearly explain what they are.

We actually have three things that get talked about:
- The Basics
- The Basic Books
- The Beginning Books

First the word "basic". Here it is being used to mean "most important or essential". It is not being used to mean "elementary: serving as a starting point or minimum". I think some confusion has been caused because the word "basic" has both of these definitions.

The "Basics" are a collection of books and recorded lectures regarded as containing the fundamentals of Scientology and Dianetics. That may not seem significant on first reading, but think about it this way: the Basics are what Scientology is built upon and if you have not studied them then you really don't have a full and complete grasp of what Scientology is.

The "Basic Books" are the books within the the Basics. That is, the books excluding the recorded lectures.

The "Beginning Books" are the books to read to get an introduction to Scientology. They are a sub-set of the Basics and fit the "elementary: serving as a starting point or minimum" definition of the word basic. But to call them "basic" would be really confusing, so we call them the "Beginning Books".

I hope that helps.

Scientology Question: Best way to study the Basics

Andrew S. Doub (a Grateful Dead Fan as you can tell from his chosen screen name) asked:
I am new to Scientology and recently began investigating the church. The nearest mission is about 8 hours away, so I am not in an area where I could go a take a course. I recently purchased the 18 Basic Books and two lecture sets (Professional Course and Clearing Congress). I was wondering, what would be the best way for me to study? I know chronologically reading the books is suggested, but are there any home study courses or study guides I could use? How can I get the most from my time, other than just reading the books?

The best way to do the Basics for someone new is to start with the Scientology Beginning Books and study them at a Church or Mission, but given your situation the next best is to do the Scientology Basics Extension Courses. These are home study courses which will guide you through the books and lectures, plus you have someone that you send your lessons to who can help you with questions, etc.

What I'd suggest is that you contact your nearest Scientology Mission and enroll on the first extension course there. You can find the nearest Mission here: Scientology Global Locator (Mobile version) or Scientology Global Locator (Full version).

Good luck. Tell me how you get on.

Dianetics: Purpose of the Mind

The next axiom of Dianetics is:

The purpose of the mind is to solve problems relating to survival - L. Ron Hubbard

Think about that one for a moment. What are you using your mind for every second of every day?

Just deciding what to have for lunch is solving a problem relating to survival:
- Maybe you are on a restricted budget and must decide where to go that will give you the most food for the few dollars you have.
- Maybe you brought your lunch with you because you want to eat healthy fresh food and restaurants in the area don't impress you as healthy.
- Maybe you eat junk food because you like how it tastes and you have no idea of how unhealthy it is.
- Maybe you eat junk food because you have been given false information that it is fine to eat and has no bad health effects.
You see, the mind works on data and sometimes the data it has is wrong. In Dianetics this is sometimes called "didn't know the gun was loaded".

So now you know the purpose of the mind so how does it achieve that purpose? Stay tuned for tomorrow's article.

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Dianetics: The Basics

As I posted yesterday, in its original form, Dianetics was a family of sciences addressing humanity and its betterment. The form of Dianetics that most people are familiar with and that was covered in the best known book on the subject, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, was first covered in the book, Dianetics: The Original Thesis.

This form of Dianetics was described as:

A science of thought applicable to psychosomatic ills and individual aberrations - L. Ron Hubbard

It was based on a few important axioms (established rules or principles), the first and most important of which is that the lowest common denominator of the finite universe is SURVIVE!

The activities of the finite universe can be seen to obey this axiom as though it were a command. All works and energies can be considered to be motivated by it. The various kingdoms have this as their lowest common denominator, for animals, vegetables and minerals are all striving for survival. - L. Ron Hubbard

Think carefully and you will see the truth in that statement. Every living thing and all forms of energy are attempting to survive. Even if they are unsuccessful, they are still attempting in their own way to survive.

And don't think of survival as just for oneself. Survival is a broader concept than just survival of self. Look at the selflessness of a firefighter who puts himself in danger saving others. Clearly he sees survival as more than just "looking out for number one."

Even when a person attempts suicide they are doing it out of an idea that it will aid survival in some way. The idea could be completely crazy, but survival of someone or something will be found at the bottom of it.

This primary axiom leads us to the second which will be discussed tomorrow.

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Scientology Ex-Members

A small handful of ex-members of the Church of Scientology have been getting some attention in the media recently.

When you take "that species of journalist whose interest is more in sensational copy than in an objective statement of the truth."¹ and you connect them up with the noisiest of ex-members, each of whom is "likely to be suggestible and ready to enlarge or embellish his grievance"¹, you will understand why the resultant media attention occurs.

Of course, the truth is nowhere near as entertaining as the fictional accounts of a disgruntled ex-member who "acts from a personal motivation to vindicate himself and to regain his self-esteem, by showing himself to have been first a victim but subsequently to have become a redeemed crusader."¹

Courts and other official investigators ignore the testimony of such people because it is well known that ex-members "always act out of a scenario that vindicates themselves by shifting responsibility for their actions to the religious group."¹

Of course, not all ex-members have complaints. In fact, the majority have been found by sociologists to harbor no ill-will against their former faith and because of this, ex-members with an axe to grind have been given the name "apostates" to differentiate them from the benign majority of ex-members.

For a more detailed discussion of "apostates" and their recent allegations see this article: Defectors About Scientology - Breaking with Scientology

(1) Quoted from "Apostates and New Religious Movements" by Prof. Bryan Wilson

(2) Quoted from "The Reliability of Apostate Testimony About New Religious Movements" by Lonnie D. Kliever, Ph.D.

Scientology: How does one accomplish this goal?

Steph asked in the last post "What is the goal of your religion? This time the question is "How does one accomplish this goal?":

By helping individuals improve themselves spiritually - as described in earlier answers:

- Scientology Auditing
- Scientology Training

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Scientology: What is the goal of your religion?

The Goals of Scientology:

The short version is:

A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.

For the full version click on the link above.

Scientology: What role has religion played in your life?

Scientology plays a huge role in my life. It is a practical religion. It contains wisdom and practices you can use in life to make life go better for you and for those close to you.

I use it all the time. I use it to get on with others, to keep up with the advances and new technologies in my field (computers). I use it to help friends who are having troubles with relationships or other areas of their lives. I use it to evaluate what car to buy :)

It contains knowledge that is applicable to almost every area of life. There is not sufficient time to go into it all, but that link about "what car to buy" is just an example of the practical nature of the religion.

Scientology: How did you come to adopt the religion you practice?

I came across Scientology when I was at University. I read the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, took a basic course and found that it worked.

It was a course in Communication and it got rid of about 50% of my intense shyness. That wasn't the purpose of the course, it was just a side-effect.

The purpose of the course was to improve my ability to communicate with others and it sure accomplished that. So I decided to try other courses and I found that they delivered what they promised too and I continued from there.

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Scientology: What happens in a typical church service? (3)

Scientology Training consists of courses that train you in how to help others, primarily by leaning how to audit. There are training courses in other areas of life too.

The way the training is delivered is different to what you are used to based on how you are taught in school or college. For 3,000 or more years teaching has basically consisted of a teacher or instructor standing up in front of a group of students telling them about a subject. When printing came along books were added in and now the teacher had you read a book as well as watch him lecture.

Scientology training does not follow this old method. When you start a course you get the written materials and you get a thing called a checksheet, which is a list of things to study and do which will end up with you understanding and being able to apply what you studied.

So, for example, you study an article on personal relationships then you write an essay on what you learned and how you could use it, then you will do a practical exercise to gain skill with using what you learned.

There is a course supervisor who is there to help you understand and apply the materials, but he or she isn't an instructor or a teacher. Instead he is an expert in study and the barriers you hit when you study.

By the end of the course, you not only know the data you studied, but you can use it too. (Which is what Scientology is all about - application.)

One big advantage with this method over the traditional method of teaching is that each student gets to go along at their own pace, so faster students are not held up by slower students, and the slower students don't feel they are holding others back.

So that's training.

Scientology Books - Cost

Sophie said (regarding this post Scientology Materials Guide Chart):
Well in order to buy not even half the materials, here is what my bill came out to be so far: $2,040.00

How come I can read all of the famous writings such as the bible for free in a church but i have to spend up to 2,000 bucks just to get some of the beginning books in Scientology?

Hey Sophie,

Thanks for the question.

First of all, the materials on the Materials Guide Chart are not just the beginning books of Scientology. They are ALL the books and lectures and they range from beginning books to advanced technical books and lectures.

Only someone who is intending to thoroughly study all of Scientology would be buying that much.

I think your confusion could come from the fact that these materials are called "The Basics" but in this case that does not mean "beginning" it means the foundations or fundamentals of the subject. The Basics are all the books and lectures and that is a huge body of knowledge.

Beginning Scientology Books For Free

If you want to read all the beginning books of Scientology, you can do so for free by going to your local library. The Church has been involved in a campaign for a couple of years now to get these books into all libraries throughout the world. I don't know where you live, but I believe that all libraries in Western Europe and North America now have these books.

Also if you wanted to go into a Scientology Church and read the beginning books in the Church library then I don't think anyone would complain.

Cost of getting a basic idea

If you want to get a basic idea of what Scientology is and you want to buy the books rather than go to the library then you can get Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought for $15 or Scientology: A New Slant on Life for $15. These are brand new editions that have very extensive glossaries, special fonts to make them easier to read, and more.

Checking on Amazon, I see that a new Christian Bible ranges from $9.99 to $26.39, a new Koran goes from $5.59 to $54.50 so I'd say the prices are comparable. (I didn't include Kindle editions.)

Cost of all the beginning books

Now if you want to buy all of the beginning books then there are seven of them and they cost $15 each, which comes to $105. These books don't just tell you about the philosophy of Scientology, they also give you practical things you can do to improve your life and the lives of those around you right here and now.

There is also a beginning book package that contains 7 paperback books, 2 workbooks, 7 audio books (unabridged = 34 CDs) and that comes to $250, which is just under $36 for each book and audio book combination - pretty reasonable for audio books.

You can see all the beginning books and audio books here: Scientology Beginning Books and Audio Books

Cost of the "Basics"

If you intend to study the entirety of Scientology: every book and every lecture ever made, then we are talking millions and millions of printed and spoken words, so obviously it is going to cost a lot more than for seven beginning books.

However, the library project has been putting these materials into libraries too so you can probably find them there also.

Did that answer your question?

Some Questions about Scientology

Luca said:

I like your honest answers. It's indeed so difficult to discuss religion in civilized manner that I really hope you can answer me on some points.

1) I see lots of talk about "salvation of man" in scientology. Salvation from what?
2) Most religions believe that God revealed to some chosen man about his existence, his name, his plans etc. Apparently Hubbard never claimed that God revealed anything to him but he rather speaks of "discoveries". Is this right? Why your God does not reveal his religion to "prophets"?
3) If salvation comes only from becoming scientologists, what happened to people before scientology? If one can be saved without becoming scientologists, then why should one choose to become one?
4) Sometimes I see written that scientology is compatible with other religions. Is that right? If is right, how comes no monotheist religion believes in reincarnation? How can the Bible or Qu'ran pass over this crucial fact unless they are false and/or misleading?

Many thanks for your attention.

Luca

Hey Luca,

Those are really good questions. I'll do my best to give good answers.

1) I've seen the word "salvation" used now and then in Scientology but not often. The basic idea of salvation is "the saving of somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure" (Encarta Dictionary). In the online Scientology Catechism, you will find this:

The Scientology religion offers practical tools one can use to better oneself and others. Some religions offer salvation in the hereafter, while Scientology offers certainty of eternal salvation now. (from the question: In what way does Scientology differ from other religions?)

In this sense the "from what?" is relief from the troubles and sufferings of existence. In Scientology we have practical tools that a person can use to improve their life in the here and now. Part of this is that you can gain a personal reality on your spiritual immortality through Scientology Auditing. (I know that I have.)

So you can see that the definition of "salvation" we are using in Scientology is different to the Christian definition of salvation which is "deliverance from sin through Jesus Christ." Scientology is not offering that sort of salvation and is not in competition with it.

2) You are correct that L. Ron Hubbard has never claimed to be anything more than a man who was curious about what made humanity tick, investigated it and shared what he found. (See: The True Story of Scientology - the full article is split into short pages, so make sure you keep clicking the "next" button till you get to the end.)

Early on in his investigations he divided life up into eight areas so it could be better understood. The article The Dynamics describes these areas. At that time he decided that the eighth area, called the "God Dynamic" should be left up to the individual and that Scientology would not intrude into that area. So Scientology stops at the seventh area, called the "Spiritual Dynamic".

Personally, I think this was a good idea. There are so many different ideas about what God is or isn't and so many claims about what is the correct belief to have and what is heresy and there has been so much conflict over the centuries that I think it is best to stay out of that zone and leave it up to personal conviction.

The best description of Scientology's viewpoint on God is covered in this article: Scientology and God. From that page I think you will understand why no assertions have been made of divine revelation in the development of Scientology.

(BTW: that entire web site (Scientology: Theology and Practice of a Contemporary Religion) is a great reference that will answer many, many questions not only about Scientology but also about how it relates to other religions.)

3) What we say in Scientology is that it is a workable route out of the sufferings and travails of life. We don't say it is the only possible route.

My own viewpoint is that I have found a workable route to personal spiritual improvement and so I'm following it. The results I've gotten so far have been phenomenal so I'm quite happy to continue to follow it. I definitely recommend it to others, and I think that with just a small investment of time anyone can see if it is going to be a workable route for them or not.

You ask: Why should one choose to become a Scientologist? My answer is "because it will help you to handle those things in your life that cause you upset and suffering then it will help you increase your abilities to levels you never thought possible and you can prove to yourself that it works with just a small investment of time and effort."

4) In Scientology there is no "conversion". A person can be a Scientologist and a member of any other religion. We don't insist they drop or renounce their other beliefs.

Beliefs in such things as past-lives are not dogma is Scientology. As an individual becomes more spiritually aware he or she gains personal reality on their present and past. No one insists that a person recalls a past life and if they do then no one insists that it is real. Whether the individual wants to accept it as fact or as a delusion is entirely up to them. All we care about is that their lives improve and they become more spiritually aware.

The tools we have in Scientology don't require belief in order to work.

Regarding the holy books of other religions. It is impossible to get everything about existence into one or two brief volumes. The Bible doesn't mention sub-atomic particles, yet they exist. The Qur'an doesn't mention other galaxies yet they exist. Neither of these omissions make those great works less than they are.

I hope I've answered your questions to your satisfaction, if not just ask me some more.