The Path to Perfection By Elizabeth Marvel, Jayplay writer
Can ultimate spiritual enlightenment be found in the Church of Scientology?
Below Left: Scientology founder L.Ron Hubbard wrote hundreds of books on topics ranging from science fiction to education. Below Right: Hubbard's 1950 book Dianetics was a best seller.
Eric Locke's marriage was in trouble when he discovered Scientology. A friend suggested he read L. Ron Hubbard's book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Locke took his friend's suggestion and read the scriptural text of the Church of Scientology. He says the book helped him make sense of his relationship with his wife, and their reactions to each other. He tried the techniques outlined in the book, and found they worked just as Hubbard said they would. Locke was convinced. He was a believer.
Sixteen years later, Locke, 43, a Merriam engineering consultant and Church of Scientology member, attributes many of the changes in his life to Scientology and Dianetics. "I have way more self-confidence than I used to. I can handle women better, I'm more assertive and outgoing. I used to be pretty shy," Locke says. "Engineering came me to talk to people like I was an authority figure. Now, I can talk to almost anyone alien came to Earth, I'd probably try to talk to him."
I asked several people on campus to tell me the first thing that came to mind when I said the word "Scientology." All of the people I questioned responded with the same words — "celebrity," "Tom Cruise," "Hollywood" and "cult." If someone had asked me this same question, I would have answered similarly. I was sure there was more to this religion than movie stars, so I set out to find out the truth about the Church of Scientology. This is what I found.
Knowing how to know
If you break the word "Scientology" into its Latin roots, "Sci-" means knowledge, or knowingness and "-ology" means the study of a particular topic. So the technical definition of Scientology is the study of knowing, or knowing how to know. In What is Scientology?, another important text of the religion, Scientology is described as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life."
Inspiration for religion: the atomic bomb
L. Ron Hubbard, primarily a science-fiction writer and jack-of-all-trades, founded the Church of Scientology in 1956. When atomic weapons were developed during World War II, Hubbard saw that humans had the capability to end life on this planet. This was the turning point for Hubbard. He saw that technology, such as the atomic bomb, had become more advanced than our ability to solve the emotional and psychological problems of humans. His solution was Dianetics. Dianetics was first published in 1950, and was on The New York Times best-seller list for six months. According to What is Scientology?, Dianetics comes from the Greek word "Dia-" meaning "through" and "-nous" meaning "soul." The book further describes it as "what the soul is doing to the body through the mind."
Once Hubbard found a way to examine the mind through Dianetics, he wanted to answer the questions of how humans got to Earth, what happens when we die, what a spirit is and what the capabilities of a spirit are and its relationship with the world. This continued research is the basis of the Church of Scientology.
photos; Jeff Brandsted
The Bridge to a better life
Dianetics and Scientology auditing is an integral part of church belief. Auditing sounds like therapy with a psychologist, but with a major difference: Unlike psychologists, auditors don't suggest solutions to a person's problems. They try to remain neutral so a person can work out his own problems for himself. "People don't want to know what's wrong with them," Al Adriance, public contact secretary for the Church of Scientology of Kansas City says. "They usually know already. They want to know how to get rid of the problem, and how it got there in the first place," he says.
Dianetics is based on the concept that the human mind is divided into the analytical mind and the reactive mind. The analytical mind processes information and examines situations and problems. The reactive mind is the unconscious mind — the source of fear, emotion, pain and psychosomatic illnesses. Scientologists define psychosomatic illnesses as physical problems caused by the mind. For example, stress can cause a person to get a cold. But the original problem, the stress, was created by the mind. Essentially, many physical illnesses begin in a person's head as a result of negative thinking.
Locke, a Scientologist, says auditing erases the pain from a person's life. If a woman's husband has died, and she's afraid to move on, auditing can help her get through the loss and allow her to love again. Locke says the process cannot erase a positive emotion like love, but through auditing, one can better handle extreme and unwanted emotions, like anger. Auditing will not cure physical illness, and auditors will recommend that a person get medical attention for a physical problem
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