Week 4 (04-10.05.2015) How are your thetans?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02460/Scientology_2460585b.jpg

As I mentioned before, in my last article (http://konwersatorium3.blogspot.com/2015/01/week-6-all-about-mormons.html), I obligated myself to write about Scientology. It’s common knowledge that celebrities like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Nicolle Kidman or  K. Preston  are part of this church, but do you actually know what Scientology is all about?

I must admit that preparing this presentation wasn’t as easy as I used to think, because Scientology is a very enigmatic religion - the higher rank you have as a member, the more knowledge you gain, so the only info I was able to get was from public statements of former members.

How did it start?

The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954, based on the teachings of an American author named L. Ron Hubbard. "Lafayette" Ronald Hubbard was born in 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska. After years of being a soldier and voyager (it’s believed that his biography was slightly improved), he decided to become a writer and became one of the most famous authors of the 1930s. He wrote well over 200 novels and short stories in the genres of science fiction, western, mystery and adventure. His biggest work was a book published in 1950 called ‘Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health’ which was sold in over 17 million copies and became an essential text of Scientology.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/26/article-2268887-172FA19D000005DC-151_634x489.jpg

Who made us sad? Lord Xenu!

What you are going to read in a moment might feel like a joke, but this is more or less how Scentiology defines the reason why we need their help.

Around 75 million years ago, a space baron Xenu, faced a problem of overpopulation. He decided to trick many beings, drug them and send to Earth, known by aliens as Teegeeack. He placed their bodies near volcanoes and mined those areas. Then an evil lord detonated explosives, which not only killed aliens, but freed “thetans” as well. (“Thetans” can be defined as souls). By advanced technology Xenu trapped those souls, brainwashed and prisoned them on Earth. They  got weaker, which forced them to group and infest human bodies – this event is called “Incident II”

So, according to Scientology, our bodies are habitats of thetans, BUT those souls do not live in us, they are us – in other words: You are a group of brainwashed, confused beings, which control/possess your body, thoughts, everything. It is said that it takes around 20 years for thetans to find another host body, after one’s death. If you made bad decisions – you (as a group of those souls) might not find a new flesh, but if you study scientology and follow the guidance of church, you may be free of all confusion, brainwash etc.

Or I can provide you with a shorten version of that story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7EEOMbBIO8

It sounds like pure science-fiction and for sure you can ask yourself – “How the heck people believe this?”, but every religion has unusual mythology. Is Satan changing into a snake to tempt Eve, Jesus walking on water, Buddha sitting under the tree for years or Joseph Smith translating God’s message from pure gold plates that more “believable” than this?

Here is a blog, where the author tries to explain why Scientologist believe in Xenu story: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/07/scientology_xenu_whole_track.php

How does the Church work?

The path to a state of “Clear”(final stage in Scientology), when one has freed oneself from the "reactive mind" is called “The Bridge” and is represented by this table:
http://www.najbjerg.info/scientologi/form37-enggradechart.pdf
But how does it start? How can one become a member?

You can get a brochure or be invited to fill an Oxford Captivity Test (nothing to do with the city or University). This test contains 200 simple questions, which you answer ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ more or less like those presented here:
http://southpark.cc.com/clips/104271/free-personality-test#source=ff4daa77-43e0-4601-8fd6-21ea1daf9c19&position=1731&sort=airdate

Then results are presented to you and you are being offered a way to free your soul and improve yourself by private consolations called “auditions” – they listen to your confessions and talk with you about them (and very often record those sessions). While doing that, they often to use E-meter:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Scientology_e_meter_blue.jpg

Which is described as "a religious artifact used to measure the state of electrical characteristics of the 'static field' surrounding the body".

Want to learn more?


When you get higher and higher in Scientology structures, there are different stages: “Auditing”, “Purification Rundown” etc. Later on you can become an auditor, join Sea Org (paramilitary organisation), NARCONON (organisation which promotes substance abuse treatment and addiction) or many other organisations. The downside is that you are progressively forced to abandon your old life, family (if they’re not part of the church), friends so on, so on. Many people claim that they’re happy, but you can find a dozen of testimonials that tell “the truth” about Scientology. I watched 4, while preparing this article and if you had to see only one – I would recommend this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL_K9yBOWwA.