What is Truth?

Now that is quite a philosophical question isn't it? Well, it is answered in the Scientology Axioms. By-the-way, Axiom has various definitions, the one being used here is "an established rule or principle or a self-evident truth."

In Axiom 38 Truth is defined as:
   1. Truth is the exact consideration.
   2. Truth is the exact time, place, form and event.

(My note: A consideration is a thought or idea about something, so this definition covers both the subjective and objective spheres.)

This definition has many applications in life. Example: a friend of mine was very nervous when it came to speaking in front of groups. Using a technique in Scientology called "false data stripping," I helped him to find the idea (consideration) he had about groups that was causing this. It turned out he had a fixed idea that groups always heckled speakers. This came from a difficult situation he'd been in with a group and shortly after, while still under a great deal of stress, someone had said to him that groups always heckled speakers. He had taken this as true and as the explanation for his difficulties. Later he forgot that he'd accepted this idea but it hung around and caused him endless problems. Getting the exact consideration he had about groups (the truth in other words) enabled him to change his mind and the problem with groups ended right there and then.

Another, more objective example, and something I do almost every day is finding and correcting bugs in computer programs. "It's hanging up" says the user. So I get her to define this more exactly - When does it hang up? Where in the program? What does the screen show at the time? What happens exactly? I get the exact time, place, form and event of the problem then I know where to look in the program and can solve it.

So this is a very practical definition of truth.

Scientology and Metaphysics

I've been gradually moving through the branches of philosophy and showing how Scientology encompasses each. Now we come to metaphysics. This is probably the most difficult branch of philosophy to define. Wikipedia gives a long definition while Webster's 1828 dictionary gives a simpler one.

Originally metaphysics was used to describe the books (and hence the subjects in those books) by Aristotle that came after (meta) his books about physics. Metaphysics has expanded over the centuries to include anything that doesn't fit into the rest of philosophy, so in a way it still lives up to its original definition although it could now be called meta-philosophy. To keep it simple, or as simple as I can, I'll define it like this: it covers the basic concepts of what underlies existence. Concepts such as being, existence, causation, space, time, knowledge, mind, spirit and many more fall into metaphysics. Unfortunately the more you dig into what it means the more complicated and convoluted it becomes. So I'll stop there.

Scientology covers the area of metaphysics in its usual practical way. The Prelogics are probably the first summation of L. Ron Hubbard's discoveries in this area, defining the common denominator of all life impulses and how universes are created. Next came the Factors which cover being, existence, causation and much more. Finally the Scientology Axioms sum up everything (literally).

These fundamentals are given very concisely and when you first read them may be too concentrated to easily digest, so in the next couple of days I'll give you examples of how they can be used in life.

Rekindle the failed purpose

While researching how to get things done (as part of the organizational philosophy of Scientology) L. Ron Hubbard hit the problem of mankind's tendency to stop things. For example stressing what shouldn't be done rather than what should be done - most laws epitomize this.

From this research he discovered that behind every stop there is a failed purpose. An example of this was a friend of mine who just couldn't seem to have a successful relationship, everything he did in the area seemed to hit a barrier - a stop - and he was very apathetic about the whole thing. When I was helping him it turned out that he'd had the purpose to have a successful marriage but his first marriage had failed dismally.

The solution? Mr. Hubbard discovered a law - "All you have to do to restore life and action is to rekindle the failed purpose. The stops will at once blow." ("blow" = go away). I had my friend look at his original purpose and times when he'd had success with it and he once more got the idea that the purpose could be attained. Within a week or two he was dating and a year later had remarried - a big improvement over 3-years of nothing happening.

The data on failed purposes can be found in Organization Executive Course Volume 0.

Scientology Philosophy - The Basic Formula of Living

People tend to think of politics as the bickering of politicians rather than ideas about social organization, administration and forms of civilization, so using the term "politics" could easily be misunderstood. The religion of Scientology is very careful to stay out of politics as it is most often defined. Scientologists very much agree with the US constitution on that one - Church and State should be separate. Therefore I will use the term "social organization" to name the branch of philosophy that Will Durant calls "politics".

Something L. Ron Hubbard discovered in his research into social organization was the Basic Formula of Living. The basic formula of Living is : HAVING AND FOLLOWING A BASIC PURPOSE.

That may sound simple, but it has very wide ramifications. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to observe that people with no purpose in life drift along getting nowhere, the aimless teenager getting into drugs and gangs is a prime example of this. If you observe a successful man or woman you will see a person who knows what their purpose is and is going for it. When you read of successful people and their habits you will see the same thing - they know what their goals are and they are working toward them.

This simple formula can be applied by any individual to better their own life. For example, if you are not enjoying your life, you feel you are drifting or living is not much fun then ask yourself what your basic purpose is. Do you have one? If you do is it actually something you want to follow?

If you find that your basic purpose is nonexistent or you have one you don't want then create or choose a new one. It could be your very own purpose you dream up or it could be a purpose that already exists that you adopt as your own.

Now you have a purpose the second part of the formula is to follow it. What do you need to do to achieve it? In what sequence must you carry out these actions? Make plans and then carry them out.

Applying the Basic Formula of Living to your own life can have exciting and far reaching effects.

The Basic Formula of Living and many other such discoveries can be found in The Organization Executive Course Volume 0 available in 15 languages.

Scientology and Organization

In an earlier post I mentioned the five rough divisions of philosophy and described "Politics" as "the subject of social organization - not just how to get elected". How to organize everything from your own life to an international religion is covered in Scientology. As always it is covered in a very practical manner.

What is the ideal form that an organization should take? How do you help people to be effective on the job? How do you choose who should be in charge? How do you fairly and equitably administer justice to the individuals in the group? How do you measure how successful a person is at their job and how successful the organization is? How do you effectively manage a group? How do you as an individual or as a manager plan and carry out the plan to achieve your goals? All these questions and more are answered in the several volumes of the encyclopedic Organization Executive Course and Management Series. These books can be found here: Scientology Administration.

Another useful reference containing the most important basics of this technology of how to organize and handle groups is contained in the Scientology Handbook.