What is Scientology?

Answer 1

Scientology is a religion.

If one wished to compare Scientology to other religions, like; Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. It would be more like Buddhism.

In Buddhism one can achieve a state called 'Bodhi' where one has achieved 'the understanding possessed by a Buddha regarding the nature of things.' In another context this means a specific freedom; the freedom from the cycle of birth and death. In other words one is free as a spiritual being from the false idea that one has just one lifetime. One is more aware of their immortality as a spiritual being in Buddhism. In Scientology there are many more spiritual states defined that one progressively attains towards an ultimate goal of Total Freedom.

In Scientology one may wish to communicate better. He or she might take a simple course on Communications. The course would present very basic information or knowledge about what communication is. Then one would apply this knowledge to attain certain specific abilities relating to improving ones communications level. So this is the idea of 'an applied religious philosophy.' The basic ideas are not mechanical ideas like talking into a telephone here to somebody talking into a telephone there. It is about one person being there, being aware of another person, and acquiring the ability to get your ideas across to that other person. So you both know. Now on a very simple level this is learning about some knowledge that can improve conditions. On a very high level it is 'knowing about knowing.' One comes to know something with more certainty. And at this high level 'knowledge is certainty'.

The best way to learn about Scientology is to sit down with any Scientology book and find just one new idea. Work out what just that one idea means to you and find many ways you can use that in your life. Many of the ideas are so basic that when you see them and understand them, it appears that it was written just for you. It might appear that you can pick up any book and read any new idea in Scientology and suddenly you know this is exactly what you needed to learn in life. Then read the book from beginning to end. That being said, there are a couple of books that might be good places to start. Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health and The Problems of Work by L. Ron Hubbard are two excellent places to start.

Scientology was developed by L. Ron Hubbard. He first introduced and defined the word on March 3, 1952 in Kansas. At that time he defined its scope, direction, purpose and breadth. Essentially he said it was intended to be a study of knowledge, to understand knowledge. In a later lecture he stated: "Scientology does not teach you. It only reminds you. For the information was yours in the first place."

Here are some ideas from Scientology: 'Increasing one ability increases all abilities.' 'One is alive as he can communicate.' 'Knowledge is Certainty'

FYI Regarding Profit:

In 1994 the Internal Revenue Service in the United States completed an extensive and very thorough review of over a million pages of evidence regarding the for-profit and not-for-profit status of Scientology. It found no evidence of any money being diverted as profit to L. Ron Hubbard, or anyone.

It did find the sources of such false information, made them known and purged all such files from government databases in United States and Internationally.

FYI Regarding 'Cult':

The word 'cult' is a four letter word. More often than not it is used to excite strong emotions in the same way that other four letter words are used by bullies. One definition is: 'a system of religious beliefs and rituals.' In this sense it has no negative connotations. But if one were using it to disparage a new religious group like early Christians or early Mormons, then the idea that it is being used by a bully to make less of another definitely applies.

FYI Regarding 'Opinions':

All religions, or all philosophies, or all movements have people that wish to express their strong opinions on that new subject. It is no different with Scientology. A philosopher writes down his ideas: This is a very simple thing. There are many interesting stories about L. Ron Hubbard. But the basic story is that 'a philosopher wrote down his ideas.'

Answer 2

The story of Scientology is that many years ago, a evil galactic warlord named Xenu trapped a bunch of other rebel aliens in a type of stasis and then shot them into a volcano on earth. When this erupted, the souls of these aliens escaped and found their way in to pre-modern man. Their sadness and anger is why we are sad and angry today. Scientologists are the only people who can help you. This religion was started by a Science Fiction writer quoted saying if you want to make 1,000,000$ start a religion.

Scientology costs, but religion and knowledge should be free. Many people think Scientology has ruined lives, killed people and broken countless laws. This has led to a group named Anonymous making them their prime target. They use a strategy known as 'fair game' which involves them following you if you leave the cult or protest as a member of Anonymous. They will ruin your lives, cut you off from your families if you're a member and send you pointless letters threatening to sue you that hold about as much legal weight as a paperclip.