SCIENTOLOGY^® ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES

 As a game-a game in which everyone can win. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization and are actively doing all they can to achieve this.

 There are four main codes that Scientologists apply in life. One is the Auditor's Code which gives the basic rules an auditor must abide by to ensure excellent auditing results.

 Another is the Code of a Scientologist, guidelines which Scientologists agree to follow in order to achieve the aims of Scientology.

 There is an ethical code, called the Code of Honor, that Scientologists use in dealing with their fellow men.

 L. Ron Hubbard has also written a nonreligious moral code called "The Way to Happiness" which gives basic precepts for a happy life. This moral code is used by Scientologists and non-Scientologists alike, with tens of millions of copies distributed in communities all around the world.

 Scientologists consider that drugs cause damaging effects on a person-physically, mentally and spiritually They decrease awareness and hinder abilities. They are a "solution" to some other problem, which themselves become a problem.

 Scientologists do not take street drugs or mind-altering psychiatric drugs.

 Scientologists do use prescribed drugs as part of medical programs from competent physicians, but have found that as a result of auditing, they need to take medical drugs much less frequently and also that medications such as antibiotics seem to work more rapidly when being audited.

 More Info Pack about drugs and what can be done about them, the book Clear Body, Clear Mind The Effective Purification Program is recommended.

 Many Scientologists are under thirty-five. We find that young Scientologists enjoy the lifestyle working in the Church. It may be that due to the expansion of Scientology they find that there are many opportunities to achieve responsible positions quite rapidly. Many families have three generations working in Scientology There are also a great many older people in Scientology

 No. There are no dietary laws whatsoever and no general prohibitions against smoking or drinking. The only guidelines in Scientology are that no alcohol is allowed twenty-four hours prior to or during auditing sessions, and that no drinking is allowed twenty-four hours prior to or during study. The effects of the alcohol would make it impossible to get the gains one can get from auditing and training.

 Smoking is forbidden in course rooms or during auditing sessions, as such would distract oneself and others. Rules for student behavior are laid out in a Church policy called the "Students' Guide to Acceptable Behavior"

 Yes. The Church of Scientology has always had the firm policy of sending sick parishioners to medical doctors to handle the physical aspect of any illness or injury. A Scientologist with a physical condition is instructed to get the needed medical examination and treatment. He then resumes his auditing so as to handle any spiritual trauma connected with the physical condition. There are also many medical doctors who are Scientologists.

No. People are unique, even though they have in common certain problems and aberrations. As they become disentangled from the stimulus-response part of their mind, they become more themselves, more unique, more individual and learn to believe in themselves. In fact, becoming more aware of and able to express one's own unique beingness is encouraged in Scientology. Scientology teaches one to maintain his personal integrity and to develop fully as an individual.

 In reviewing success stories written by Scientologists, there are a few common themes that stand out. One is that many people have attained the ability to communicate in relationships, whether with family members and spouses, friends, or even mere acquaintances; another is that they are freed from stress at work and in other areas of their lives; another common one is that they can expand their potential and do things they never thought possible.

L. Ron Hubbard has defined ethics as "reason and the contemplation of optimum survival."

In Scientology, ethics is a rational system based on a number of codes of practice.

 L. Ron Hubbard has pointed out: "Dishonest conduct is nonsurvival. Anything is unreasonable or evil which brings about the destruction of individuals, groups, or inhibits the future of the race."

Man has long postulated a means by which he could put himself on the right path. As long ago as 500 B.C., religions recognized that confession frees a person spiritually from the burden of sin.

In Scientology, it has been found that a Confessional (a type of auditing) assists the person who has transgressed against his own and his group's moral code to unburden himself and again feel good about himself and be a contributing member of the group.

L. Ron Hubbard has written: "No man who is not himself honest can be free-he is his own trap. When his own deeds cannot be disclosed, then he is a prisoner; he must withhold himself from his fellows and is a slave to his own conscience."

In addition to the Confessional, Scientology's ethics system includes a body of technology called conditions formulas. Mr. Hubbard discovered that there are various states of existence in which an individual operates (called "conditions") and that there are exact formulas connected with these operating states. Each formula has a number of exact steps.

 A person can determine what condition or operating state any area of his life is in and apply the conditions formulas to move it into a higher condition.

While very simple, such actions are quite powerful and have enabled millions of individuals to improve conditions in their lives in ways they never thought possible.

These are just two of the tools from the wealth of ethics technology that exists in Scientology. Complete information on this subject is contained in the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics by L. Ron Hubbard.

It means that Scientologists want to clear the planet of insanity, war and crime, and in its place create a civilization in which sanity and peace exist. In order to do this, they must help individuals become clear of their own individual insanities and regain awareness that they are basically good.

 According to L. Ron Hubbard, a suppressive person is "a person who seeks to suppress, or squash, any betterment activity or group. A suppressive person suppresses other people in his vicinity. This is the person whose behavior is calculated to be disastrous." Well-known examples of such a personality are Napoleon and Hitler.

 Mr. Hubbard found that a suppressive person, also called an antisocial personality, has definite antisocial attributes.

 The basic reason the antisocial personality behaves as he or she does lies in a hidden terror of others.

 To such a person every other being is an enemy, an enemy to be covertly or overtly destroyed.

 The fixation is that survival itself depends on "keeping others down" or "keeping people ignorant."

 If anyone were to promise to make others stronger or brighter, the antisocial personality suffers the utmost agony of personal danger.

 Because of this, the suppressive person seeks to upset, continuously undermine, spread bad news about and denigrate Scientology and Scientologists. The antisocial personality is against what Scientology is about-helping people become more able and improving conditions in society.

 For the good of the Church and the individuals in it, such a person is officially labeled a suppressive person so that others will know not to associate with him.

 For more understanding of suppressive persons and how to handle them, the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics is recommended.

 A Scientologist can have trouble making spiritual progress in his auditing or training if he is connected to someone who is suppressive or who is antagonistic to Scientology or its tenets. He will get better from Scientology, but then may lose his gains because he is being invalidated by the antagonistic person. In order to resolve this, he either handles the other person's antagonism with true data about the Church, or as a last resort when all attempts to handle have failed, he disconnects from the person.

 In 1983, L. Ron Hubbard clearly defined the two terms, "disconnect" and "handle," as related to this subject:

 "The term handle most commonly means to smooth out a situation with another person by applying the technology of communication.

 "The term disconnection is defined as a self-determined decision made by an individual that he is not going to be connected to another. It is a severing of a communication line.

 "The basic principle of handle or disconnect exists in any group and ours is no different.

 "It is much like trying to deal with a criminal. If he will not handle, the society resorts to the only other solution: It 'disconnects' the criminal from the society. In other words, they remove the guy from society and put him in a prison because he won't handle his problem or otherwise cease to commit criminal acts against others."

 A person who disconnects is simply exercising his right to communicate or not to communicate with a particular person. This is one of the most fundamental rights of man. "Communication, however, is a two way flow," Mr. Hubbard pointed out. "If one has the right to communicate, then one must also have the right to not receive communication from another. It is this latter corollary of the right to communicate that gives us our right to privacy."

 Another example is marriage. In a monogamous society, the agreement is that one will be married to only one person at a time. If one partner, say the husband, starts to have second dynamic relations with a person other than his partner, the wife has the right to insist either that this communication cease or that the marriage itself ends.

 In this example, the optimum solution would be for the wife to resolve the situation through communication so that her husband, who is violating the agreements, is handled. But if this is not possible, then the wife has no choice other than to disconnect (sever the marriage communication lines if only by separation). To do otherwise will only bring disaster, as the wife is connected to someone antagonistic to the original agreements on which the marriage is based.

 With the technology of handle or disconnect, Scientologists are, in actual fact, doing nothing different than any society, group or marriage down through thousands of years.

 Assuming that modern usage of the word cult implies an elite secrecy and unthinking zealotry, then consider this: Scientology is the fastest growing religion in the world today. The materials that comprise Scientology scriptures are fully codified, broadly published and available to anyone. Churches and missions are open to the public seven days a week. Anyone can come in for a tour and see for himself what the Church is all about.

 Scientology is unique in that it contains no dogma and its adherents are not told or forced to "believe" anything. In Scientology, what is true for the individual is only what he has observed and knows is true for him. Scientology is a technology one can use and through its use discover its workability for oneself.

 Scientologists come from all walks of life, ranging from teachers to businessmen, physicians, housewives, artists, engineers, nurses, construction workers, celebrities, marketing and administrative personnel, secretaries, athletes, civil servants and many others.

 The Church and its actions are far from secretive; there is nothing mystical about Scientology or its members or practices. The Church's leaders are in close touch with the membership; they hold a number of briefing events each year which are attended by tens of thousands.

 Scientologists actively improve their communities; they are out there, involved, visible and effective.

 The fact of the matter is there isn't a religion today that hasn't been called a cult at some point in its history by antagonistic interests. Nazis thought Jews and Eastern European religious sects to be cults. In the sixteenth century Catholics considered reform churches cults. Earlier than that Roman rulers considered the Christian community a cult. History has taught us to beware of those who would label any religious group a cult. It is traditionally the first step before wholesale persecution, and is always the statement of an unenlightened and uninformed individual, usually with ill motives as the Nazi history makes so clear.

 No. In fact, what we do is exactly the opposite. We free people and enable them to think for themselves.

 Millions of Church members from literally all walks of life have attested to the positive benefits received from Scientology.  A common theme to their personal success stories is that they are now more in control of their lives than they ever have been.

 In fact, Mr. Hubbard was one of the first to discover and expose actual mind control and brainwashing experimentation conducted by United States military and intelligence agencies during and after World War II. He called these techniques "pain-drug hypnosis" or PDH. In his 1951 book, Science of Survival, Mr. Hubbard wrote:

 "There is another form of hypnotism . . . This form of hypnotism has been a carefully guarded secret of certain military and intelligence organizations. It is a vicious war weapon and may be of considerably more use in conquering a society than the atomic bomb. This is no exaggeration. The extensiveness of the use of this form of hypnotism in espionage work is so wide today that it is long past the time when people should have become alarmed about it. It required Dianetic processing to uncover pain-drug hypnosis. Otherwise, pain-drug-hypnosis was out of sight, unsuspected and unknown."

 Not only did he uncover such blatantly destructive experimentation, but the technology he developed, Dianetics, could undo the effects of PDH and free a person from the grip of mind control.

 Years after Mr. Hubbard learned about these government-sponsored psychiatric mind control experiments, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act detailed the extent to which these techniques were being used.

 Over the years, the Church of Scientology has exposed numerous instances of brainwashing or mind control practices, such as those involved in so-called "deprograming." In this case, individuals are taken captive and forced to renounce their chosen religious or political group, generally using some form of coercion, food or sleep deprivation and sometimes drugs.

 Such practices are diametrically opposed to the aims of Scientology, which are to free man and return to him his ability to control his own life.

 Yes. Scientologists make the technology broadly available to others because they want others to receive the same gains they have experienced. The Church wants more people to know and apply the works of L. Ron Hubbard and actively and vigorously promotes this.

 That is a question you will have to answer for yourself. A Scientologist's viewpoint is that while some people might be surviving quite well without Scientology, they can always do better and expand their potentials even further. In fact, Scientology was developed to help the able become more able and one usually finds the people doing best in life are the first ones to embrace Scientology.

 If you are interested in self-improvement, Scientology provides a tested route by which you can obtain tremendous benefits and learn to use your mind, talents and abilities to the fullest.

 If you know people who are doing well but have never heard of Scientology, the question is: "Could they be doing better?"

 No. One is not expected to believe in Scientology. One is only expected to study and apply the data and see for himself if it works for him. To quote L. Ron Hubbard, "Anything that isn't true for you when you study it carefully isn't true."

 If you had a chance to change yourself and civilization so greatly, you would be interested as well.

 A preclear is someone who is receiving Scientology or Dianetics auditing on his way to becoming Clear. Through auditing he is finding out more about himself and life.

 A student is one who reads in detail in order to learn and then apply the materials he has studied. One studies Scientology for itself and uses it exactly as stated, then forms his own conclusions as to whether or not the tenets he has assimilated are correct and workable.

 An auditor is a Dianetics or Scientology practitioner trained in the technology of auditing. Auditor means "one who listens" (from the Latin word audire). An auditor listens and computes, applying standard technology to preclears to help them achieve the abilities as stated on the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart. An auditor's job is to ask the preclear to look, and get him to do so.

 E-Meter is a shortened term for electropsychometer. It is a religious artifact used as a spiritual guide in auditing. It is for use only by a Scientology minister or a Scientology minister-in-training to help the preclear locate and confront areas of spiritual upset.

 In itself, the E-Meter does nothing. It is an electronic instrument that measures mental state and change of state in individuals and assists the precision and speed of auditing. The E-Meter is not intended or effective for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease.

 The book Understanding the E-Meter offers a simple explanation of how the E-Meter works and what it actually measures. In order to understand what the E-Meter does, it is necessary to understand some basic Scientology concepts.

 There are three basic parts of man-mind, body and thetan. The thetan is an immortal spiritual being-the individual himself. He (the thetan) inhabits a body, which is a carbon-oxygen machine. He has a mind, which is a collection of mental image pictures he has created.

 These pictures have weight and mass and can impinge on the person when he is emotionally upset.

 This is what makes the E-Meter read-the impingement of such pictures against the body

 The E-Meter puts a very small electrical current (approximately one and a half volts) through the body. This is about the same amount of current as in the average battery-powered wristwatch.

 When a person thinks a thought, looks at a picture, reexperiences an incident or when he shifts some part of the pictures in his mind, he is moving and changing actual mental mass and energy. These changes in the person's mind affect the tiny flow of electrical energy generated by the E-Meter, which causes the needle on its dial to move.

 The E-Meter thus measures changes that are caused by the spiritual being in his own mind (i.e., the movement of mental masses around him) and in this capacity, it is a religious artifact.

 The E-Meter is used to help the individual who is being audited uncover truth. By locating areas of mental or spiritual trauma, the E-Meter helps both the auditor and the preclear locate exactly what to address in auditing.