Meet a Scientologist: Marc, Medical Inventor

This is a pretty cool invention:

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?

Scientology Auditing versus Secular Therapy

Sophie said:

How is Auditing different from seeing a therapist and talking about your feelings and working on them and what not? Therapists usually don't prescribe drugs so how is it different?

That is an excellent question.

Unless you have a good understanding of what auditing is then you may not see much difference between Scientology Auditing and secular therapy. In fact the differences are so many and so great that a book could be written on the subject.

But to save you from a huge discussion, I'll try to keep it short and to the point.

The End Product

Here is an example of a typical secular therapy session: Typical Therapy Session. As you can see the end product and how long it takes to achieve is described like this:

On average, clients stay in therapy for one year. Some feel better much sooner, and some continue for much longer. The length of time it will take for you to feel better varies depending on your temperament and the particular issues you bring forward.

So "feeling better" is the end product and it take about a year to achieve.

When a person begins with Scientology Auditing often the first thing they do is a specific set of actions called "Life Repair" which are aimed at handling the upsets and difficulties the person is encountering in their current life. On average it takes 25 hours of auditing and at the end of that time the person's current life issues will be handled. They won't just "feel better" they will feel great and the things that were bothering them won't be bothering them anymore.

So that's the lowest, simplest, beginning form of Scientology Auditing and in a few days you will have not only reached, but completely surpassed the "feeling better" of secular therapy.

If you go to this link: Scientology Bridge you will see a full list of the abilities that you gain from the Scientology Auditing that comes after Life Repair.

Here are a few examples of what you get from Scientology Auditing:
- Ability to freely communicate with anyone on any subject.
- Ability to recognize the source of problems and make them vanish.
- Relief from the hostilities and sufferings of life.
- Freedom from the upsets of the past and ability to face the future.
- Moving out of fixed conditions into ability to do new things.
- Freedom from cruel impulses and chronic unwanted condition.

And there's plenty more. These end products far surpass anything there is in secular therapy.

The Precision

Another big difference is that Scientology Auditing is made up of very specific actions that have been tested and honed thoroughly over the years until they get a specific named result every time. The person delivering these actions to an individual is called an Auditor and he or she is very thoroughly trained so they do it right every time.

The actions an Auditor delivers are called "processes" and they range from very simple (such as "Remember something real" - it assists memory) to very complex (such as 12 questions/directions given in a very specific order with many internal variations possible) but each and every one is precise and has a carefully defined end product.

There is nothing comparable in secular therapy

What's wrong with you is ...

In Auditing the Auditor NEVER EVER tells a person what to think about what they just came up with, NEVER EVER tells them what is wrong with them, NEVER EVER makes disparaging remarks about what they did or didn't do or say and NEVER EVER interprets what the person says or feels. That is very different to secular therapy such as psychoanalysis where the analyst reads sexual significance into the person's statements and interprets his condition for him.

In Auditing the person comes to their own conclusions and realizations. To have a conclusion forced upon you is worse than useless and can actually be very detrimental, so it is forbidden in Scientology Auditing.

We actually have a code of conduct called the Scientology Auditor's Code, which all Auditors follow.

The Biggest Difference of All

The biggest difference that I see between Scientology Auditing and secular therapy is that Auditing is based on the idea that you are a spiritual being with enormous potential abilities which, although not currently realized, can be achieved.

Secular therapy is usually based on the idea that a human being is just an animal and is limited by genetics. So "feeling better" is the highest goal because you are just a body and that's the best you can do with a body. Spiritual freedom and spiritual ability are foreign concepts to the secular therapist.

Other References

- Scientology Auditing: Comparison to Earlier Therapies
- All About Scientology Auditing
- A Description Of Scientology Auditing
- What Is Auditing?

Well, Sophie, has that answered your question?

Scientology and Homosexuality

mikeytriumphs asked:

My question is this: I have been interested in Scientology for several years, but cannot bring myself to visit a Church or start a course. I am gay, and I have heard that Scientology places gay people very low on the tone scale, and says we're (like most churches do) bad or immoral people. I just don't agree with this.

Will Scientology services try and change me? Can I be both gay and a Scientologist? What exactly does the Church say about this issue?

The only policy that the Church applies regarding the area of sexual relationships is called "Second Dynamic Rules" - The Second Dynamic is a term we use to describe the area of life covering sex, family and children.

The policy was written by L. Ron Hubbard and begins with: "It has never been any part of my plans to regulate or attempt to regulate the private lives of individuals."

It's a two page policy so I won't quote the whole thing, but bottom line is that the Church stays out of it, but if an individual has their progress in Scientology impeded because of a husband's, wife's or other's activities in that area then the person affected can ask for a "Chaplain's Court" where a minister arbitrates between the two parties and if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did impede the other person's progress then there are penalties.

The only example of this I know of was where a husband had an affair that so upset his wife that her spiritual counseling was seriously affected and he had to make restitution to her.

I hope that answers you questions.