I believe Scientology built itself up on some kind of existing cultural brainwashing in the western society. It has not been successful in the eastern culture. I spent 12 years in the Sea Org and came out relatively okay. I have neither hate nor love for Scientology. It is just an interesting subject.
The brainwashing, which is quite prevalent in the western culture is the idea of “eternal soul”. Scientology concept of THETAN forwards that brainwashing and makes an “immortal individuality” the cornerstone of its philosophy and therapy.
There is individuality–that is not in question. But it is the belief in the adjective “immortal” attached to it that constitutes brainwashing. This belief affects so much of man’s behavior that it is amazing.
Scientology does not talk about God. There is no mention of “Lord” in its philosophy. However, it preserves that concept of God in its concept of the THETAN. THETAN combines the anthropomorphic concept of “God” with the concept of “eternal soul” into one.
In the East, the concept of ATMAN is more like the idea of an “electric current”. ATMAN is something that energizes the BODY-MIND system. PARAMATMA (supreme ATMAN) is the concept in Hinduism that is used in place of God. It refers to the most subtle form of energy and not to some “being”. The Scientology concept of THETA (life force) is similar to it.
What could be considered immortal is ENERGY WITH INNATE IMPULSE. This idea is also supported by the Law of Conservation. This energy has been expressed as ATMAN, or THETA, or Life force.
THETAN is a concept that defines the individuality of the BODY-MIND system. It is, actually, a part of the BODY-MIND system. Upon death, the BODY-MIND system disintegrates and so does the THETAN along with it. A new THETAN is formed with the next iteration of the BODY-MIND system. This is how the mechanism of evolution works.
The concept of “eternal” (along with the concepts of heaven and hell) is not necessary to enforce responsibility on the individual. The concept of “karma” is enough to make the mortal individual understand the liability that his actions can bring. He knows that the liability of his actions extends to other aspects of life, such as, the family, society, mankind, etc. It is not limited to just “that one individual in next life”.
Scientology brainwashing, which uses the the belief in “immortal individuality,” is not something new. It is something that has been considered sacred and worshipped for ages in the western culture. This fixation on individuality is what we refer to as EGO.
.
Comments
If It may be asked, how do you see the “past life” auditing of the Dianetics-Scientology? From what I gathered, the thetan was the self which owned and developed from its individual memories, but admittedly I reached and withdrew fairly independently from the orgs, (having payed out a lot of time on their behalf in the bargain).
I was grateful to get sort of a quickie start in the NYC org way back in 1967, when a schoolmate had so impressed me with the idea of getting some training there, which initiated my dropping out of regular school and ultimately, through long decades, dropping out of the “consensus reality”…
Your post raises so much that is worthy of discussion. I could offer friendly contrasts of rationale, regarding your statements, if that is of interest.
LikeLike
Certainly. I want to hear from you.
LikeLike
“If It may be asked, how do you see the “past life” auditing of the Dianetics-Scientology?”
“Past life” auditing is okay as long as it is helping a person resolve some anomaly. It is certainly beneficial.
However, “past life” auditing does not necessary depend on the belief that one has lived before the current life. There may be a past life incident, but it doesn’t have to be an incident from his past.
The preclear’s body-mind system is constructed from raw material that was once part of other body-mind systems, which have since disintegrated. The preclear came into existence when the body-mind system he now possesses came into existence.
The preclear has not existed eternally, but the energy that animates him, and the rest of the universe, has existed eternally.
Some of those earlier energy constructs may now have been included in his body-mind system. Past ownership of these energy constructs (incidents) does not matter. What matters is that he now owns a copy of that energy construct, and he needs to resolve it in order to make progress.
LikeLike
“From what I gathered, the thetan was the self which owned and developed from its individual memories, …”
The “self” is the particular “energy form” (thetan) that is animating the body-mind system. It is as individual as that body-mind system, which is tailored to it. That particular energy form came into existence with that body-mind system. That “thetan” did not exist before, same as that body-mind system did not exist before.
As I wrote elesewhere, a person’s body-mind system is constructed from raw material that was once part of other body-mind systems, which have since disintegrated. The past life memories he now possesses belonged to other body-mind systems (and their thetans). The person, as a thetan, is new on the scene and he has acquired memories from thetans who came before him.
A better term for a “past life memory” is a “past life action-consequence” or KARMA from past lives. The Karma always affects all dynamics and not just the first dynamic. So the Karma may become part of the society one grew up in. It is part of the person’s environment. Here, you may say, that his body-mind system is part of that environment too.
Therefore, Hubbard’s concept of “past life memory” and his concept of thetan need to be modified for consistency with reality. The concepts of KARMA and ATMAN are more accurate as described above using Hubbard’s terminology.
LikeLike
The elimination of the knowledge of reincarnation by western church fathers blocked western development of consciousness, where the far eastern trend did focus on consciousness, but ignored development of material technologies, of which the west finally did developed, (despite the blockages by church fathers). Laziness became a misconception of how to avoid bad karma in the east, in hopes of getting a better life through expected incarnation. While in the west, heaven could be bought from the church, for enjoyment in the after life, and then later in the marketplace, it could be bought as present time materialism, and increasingly as illusions or addictions to blur out the necessary self-work, of developing consciousness, as part of human evolution.
LikeLike
I just have the following issue with “reincarnation,” which is misunderstood both in the east as well as in the west.
(1) “Reincarnation” occurs of the body-mind system, which disintegrates at death, mixes with other disintegrated body-mind systems and then reintegrates into a new body-mind system.
(2) There is no soul or individuality that passes from one cycle to the next. The body-mind system reconfigures and so does the individuality.
(3) Raw material of atoms, bits of memory and programming routines do pass from one cycle to the next.
LikeLike
“The elimination of the knowledge of reincarnation by western church fathers blocked western development of consciousness, where the far eastern trend did focus on consciousness, but ignored development of material technologies, …”
The explanation is not that simple. The monkey wrench has been the fixation on individuality. Reincarnation is the recycling of the body-mind-individuality system as required by evolution.
All three aspects—body, mind and individuality—are reconfigured when recycled. None of them is fixed or constant in their form. What is constant is the energy that energizes the forms. That energy is beyond body-mind-individuality. The Hubbard term THETA may come close to identifying that energy.
The concept of that energy is much subtler than the concepts of body, mind and individuality. That subtlity is missing in the western religions, but not in the eastern regions.
Consciousness is a concept dependent on the body-mind-individuality system. Western fixation on individuality gives consciousness a more earthly flavor. This flavor channels the consciousness toward more competition. Competition is more conducive to the development of material technologies.
LikeLike
“Laziness became a misconception of how to avoid bad karma in the east, … While in the west, heaven could be bought from the church, for enjoyment in the after life,”
The concept of “sin” is fixated on the individual (dynamic one) in that it is addressed through a reward and punishment system in the form of heaven and hell.
The concept of “karma” is spread over all dynamics and it is addressed through the influence of environment in the next life. This is closer to how things work out in practice.
LikeLike
The emotional tone scale publication was a commendable breakthrough, mid century, but much later it falls way behind due to the heavy monetizing of service orgs, limiting “scientology tech” to the functions of emotionality and physicality, with too little of mentality. The orgs serviced the lower emotional robot, which energizes the physical robot, appearing very impressive in some cases, but commercialism achieves little beyond itself, (as compared with the potentials of life and evolution).
The theta and thetan definitions were also provocative in the human-emotional-world which has captivated the masses, at so many levels, and indeed, this does fit an argument against reincarnation, as such, because ego and personality traditionally live in the emotional world, which cannot transcend those worlds, however far more can be discovered about life, beyond the human’s mortal robots, far more than Hubbard has demonstrated.
As a quest, the seeker tirelessly looks for the steps beyond the limitations previously bypassed, to find and understand the larger existing system of human life.
LikeLike
Your criticism of Dianetics is well founded.
Emotion is tied to subjectivity, which is tied to lack of clarity. I agree with that.
LikeLike
Dianetics has a great value as it highlights ancient Vedic concepts by its own successes, limitations and failures.
LikeLike
Scientist barely speak of consciousness during human death, but scientology promised a freedom with self-sufficient tools, (as of the late 1960s), but without reproducable evidence to prove that claim. It’s costs of time or money diverted many of us from continuing, and this was a helpful advantage, keeping one free from wasting yet another, entire incarnation.
From another venture in this century a claim that human minds can be preserved and fitted into cyborgs for a price, is somewhat comparable… All of these things sound like conjurers selling tricks, because recording and playback of audio-video-wirelessly, directly in a person’s brain, has been demonstrated. Video games should warn the buyer to become more aware, because some of this tech is now reaching the market place.
LikeLike
In my opinion, individual consciousness ends with the death of the body-mind system, but a disintegrated general consciousness remains.
Scientology is incorrect in asserting that individual consciousness remains after death. Ultimate freedom lies in achieving the Static viewpoint while one is alive, and Scientology has been unsuccessful in leading one to that freedom.
The idea of cyborgs is again due to fixation on preserving some idea of individuality.
Evolution is much better.
LikeLike