Scientology's Teachings That Are Borrowed From Other Major Religions
Scientology, as a religious cult, upholds specific religious beliefs that are somewhat comparable to those practiced by other major religions. While Scientology owes much of its religious beliefs from Eastern religions, there are differences in how these beliefs are treated and taught.
Hubbard was largely influenced by the teachings of various holy men from Asia which he allegedly came in contact with during his journey in the region when he was young. When he was 19, according to his biography, he went as far as China, Tibet and India from 1927 to 1929 and came back to the United States with the teachings from the major religions from the East. He further claimed that while on a journey in these countries, he was taught by the holy men of Tibet in the remote, India, and China and was therefore introduced to the religious teachings of the Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks, and Hindu pundits or priests. The last line of royal magicians to Kublai Khan further oriented him into their practices.
Having experienced all this, Hubbard came up with the following religious teachings:
- That man is a spiritual being that undergoes a lifetime after lifetime to attain a state called spiritual enlightenment. This enlightenment is the only path to understanding one's Creator. This is very similar to the concept of reincarnation and nirvana of Hinduism. The idea of spiritual enlightenment is akin to that of the Bhodi of Buddhism.
Scientology treats reincarnation and past lives as definite systems not exclusive to Scientology. In fact, these are parts of the Scientology system but the religion itself does not fully ascribe to these teachings. For Scientologists, reincarnation is being born again in another body of different flesh and thus they believe that humans have lived many different lives. For them, the spirit is an immortal being that derives its perfection from living several different lives. However, these past lives are not called within the religion as reincarnations, these are merely called as past lives.
- That man is inherently good and that his salvation depends on himself alone as well as his relationship with others and the universe. Again this is predominant teaching in the East. Scientology claims that it is the religion that embodies the fullest sense of these teachings. According to scientology, in order to attain salvation, man has to fully rehabilitate his innate spiritual self - or the thetan in him, the individual life force inherent to each Scientologist that is - before he can rise to higher levels of spiritual awareness. The main goal of Scientology in this regard is to seek complete spiritual transformation - from a being trapped in a physical body to a spiritual being or thetan that has all the qualities of a godlike being.
- The concept of God in Scientology is somewhat different from the concepts observed by major religions such as Christianity and Islam. Being thetans with godlike qualities, Scientology teaches that each member can and will become gods with sufficient spiritual enlightenment and growth.
Scientology And Hollywood: What's The Real Score?
Most people only got to know about Scientology because of celebrities. You know the names: Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, Will Smith, and a slew of others who either openly declare their affiliation with the controversial religion or have chosen to keep it under wraps. But one thing's for sure, the Church of Scientology has targeted celebrities to increase their influence on the society at large, and so far it has been very successful.
Truth of the matter is, Scientology has fed off the glitz and glamour of its celebrity members and has built quite a reputation. It might have been mired in bad publicity, but as we all know, bad publicity is still publicity. In one time or another, people can get curious and might eventually take the plunge. After all, Tom Cruise, who is arguably one of the most popular actors on the planet, has expressed his all out support for the religion. Associations can mean everything whether we admit it or not.
From the documents seen on the internet and interviews made by Nightline on former members of Scientology, one can glean that the Church of Scientology has a specialized wing that aims to reach out to celebrities. This is called the Celebrity Centre, and based on what we've seen in media reports, this parcel of the Church has made a lot of progress in the indoctrination of many celebrities not just in the United States, but all over the world.
While it's true that it's not exactly a crime to use celebrities to inculcate the general public how Scientology can help the people live better lives, one still has to think about the underlying facts behind the practice. I, so far as I'm aware, have not heard of any other religion that has formed a subsidiary organization catered to the involvement of celebrities. Only Scientology has done this, and this is a giant red flag if I ever saw one.
This practice reeks of desperation, a show of low esteem on the credulity of the general public.
Whether it's a calculated risk or not, using celebrities as success stories for Scientology has backfired. If you Google the word 'Scientology', most of what you'll find are criticisms and biting commentary regarding the subject. It's a type of circus we internet pundits would like to read while we sit back and munch on our Cheetos.
Former members of Scientology have also been reported to give huge amounts of money in exchange for more Scientology literature. This heavy spending, they say, was necessary to get their hands on more profound truths. Current Scientology practitioners refuted these allegations and claimed that the money given to them were "donations". This, to me, is a blatant lie. For one, achieving complete "enlightenment" in Scientology involves many steps. The first one is auditing, and when you advance, you need to get your hands on specific books to educate yourself, and so on.
That's well and good, but what boggles the mind is why the Church has to limit the availability of its more advanced literature. Last I heard, "donations" are given without expecting something in return.
Why Scientology?
Each one of us is free to subscribe to a particular set of beliefs which most of us may call a religion. Some were raised in it, some stumbled upon their religion, and others are actively searching for a religion that will fit their perception of a religion. There are literally thousands of choices out there so it really isn't easy as you might first think. If you are considering Scientology as your next religion, Scientology by the way is known as the world's fastest growing organized religion, you might as well look at the following reasons why you should chose it.
The first reason is that it guides you towards spiritual development.
Religion, in itself, deals with everything spiritual. Each religion in the world, at least the major ones, put great emphasis on attaining higher states of religious development. The same is true with Scientology, only with a little twist.
Being a highly organized religion, Scientology prescribes its member specific methodologies for achieving higher levels of spiritual consciousness. Unlike other religions, it follows strict guidelines that are for the most parts followed by all of its members. In many ways, Scientology tries to ensure that once a person becomes a member, he will be assisted every step of the way towards spiritual development.
One way Scientologists do this is by conducting spiritual counseling sessions called auditing. By the word auditing itself, the entire idea of the process can already be arrived at.
Auditing is a process wherein the subject or the member and a qualified auditor participate. This uses exact sets of questions that try to uncover the inner struggles of the person - be it about personal life, about one's existence, about life itself, or about the universe. Scientologists believe that when these inner questions are not answered, discord within the human personality may occur. Much like the teachings of Freudian psychologists.
Scientologists further believe in the existence of a part of the mind that is the repository of all the painful and traumatic experiences the person has undergone over its many lifetimes. (Yes, Scientologists believe that people don't only live a single life, instead several of them, just like the Hindus do.) These traumatic experiences that have collected over several lifetimes are stored in the part of the brain Scientologist call the 'reactive mind'. In auditing sessions, this mind is emptied out to achieve a state called 'Clear', which is equivalent to Buddhism's Bhodi or state of enlightenment.
There is another process that aims at the same thing, spiritual awareness that is, which is called the 'training'. This process allows members to see why the things and events happen in one's life. This brings in further awareness to the individual.
The other reason is that this religion doesn't limit its members to the usual limitations of other religions such as the belief in one Supreme Being and in faith. Scientology allows for better freedom when it comes to these subjects and lets their members believe what they want to believe in so long as their beliefs are in accordance to the fundamental beliefs of Scientology. For people who love the freedom of believing in something other than those sponsored by their specific religion, this is a really good arrangement.
