Scientology: Applied Philosophy

Scientology: Applied Philosophy

Is there something to being human that cannot be explained through biology and psychology? And just how can mankind be saved through the actions of man? Perhaps the truth lies in the past, and how it affects the present. Not societal events, but personal experiences... Ranging to thousands of years ago. According to L. Ron Hubbard, this is precisely what lies in store for those who follow his philosophy, that of the Church of Scientology. The name Scientology, as he created it, was derived from both the Greek and Latin for "to know," making the art of Scientology "knowing how to know." Scientology teaches that physical illness, mental instability, and any form of personal malady may be corrected through aided analysis, or "auditing." A person will sit in front of an associate holding two metal cans connected to an "E-meter." This device receives impulses which can help determine the emotional state of the subject. As the person running the session speaks, he watches the meter to find which of his words brings a reaction from the subject. He then takes the examiner through past events in which the malady shows up in some form. Finally, the original event, the first occurence of the unpleasantness, is reached. Supposedly upon playing through the original source of the pain directly, any further pain is thwarted. This may understandably work rather effectively in some cases of stress headaches and phobias. However, the process is used to treat sinusitis, influenza, and other ailments which are purely physical in nature.
At times, the subject may not find the original mental scar. This means that the event did not occur during the person's life: It remains from a previous lifetime. Scientologists believe that a person's soul, the Thetan, travels from body to body, weighted down by all the accumulated experiences that hide its nature from itself. It brings all these memories with it to each new body, where they lie dormant until exhumed. Naturally, the only reliable...