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=== ARC and KRC triangles ===
The Scientology symbol is made up of two triangles with an "S" connecting them. The top triangle is called the KRC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of knowledge, responsibility, and control. The lower triangle is called the ARC triangle, symbolizing the related concepts of affinity, reality, and communication, and all three together represent understanding. The large connecting "S" stands for "Scientology".
Scientology teaches that improving one of the three aspects of the KRC or ARC triangle will increase the other two. In the ARC triangle, communication is held to be the most important.
Among Scientologists, the letters ARC are used as an affectionate greeting in personal communication, for example, at the end of a letter. Social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity. These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.
=== Morals and ethics ===
Scientology teaches that progress on The Bridge to Total Freedom requires and enables attaining high moral and ethical standards. According to Hubbard, the goal of ethics is to remove impediments to survival, and ethics is essentially a tool to "get technology in", meaning Scientology's use of the term technology.
=== Hostility toward psychiatry ===
In the early 1950s, the psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories, and Hubbard thereafter vehemently opposed psychiatry and psychology. He taught that psychiatrists were responsible for genocidal acts in the ancient past, including in the Xenu narrative. Scientology views psychiatry as a barbaric and corrupt profession and considers mental illness a fraud. Initially, Hubbard taught that psychosis was not something Scientology addressed, but later developed the Introspection Rundown, a brutal and inhumane method that allegedly solves psychotic episodes without psychiatric intervention.
Scientology established the anti-psychiatry lobby group Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) which operates an exhibit Psychiatry: An Industry of Death. They allege that psychiatrists were responsible for the Holocaust, apartheid and 9/11. CCHR has helped legislators draft bills, though bills in Florida and Utah failed which would have made it a crime for school teachers to suggest to parents that their child might be suffering from a mental health condition.
== Practices ==
The Church makes it clear that Hubbard is considered the sole source of Dianetics and Scientology: "The Scientology religion is based exclusively upon L. Ron Hubbard's research, writings and recorded lectures – all of which constitute the Scriptures of the religion." His work, recorded in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films, is archived for posterity. The Religious Technology Center holds "the ultimate ecclesiastical authority and the pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's religious technologies."
Individuals applying Hubbard's techniques who are not officially connected to the Church of Scientology are considered part of the "Free Zone". Some of these individuals were litigated against for using and modifying the practices for their own use and that of others, thereby infringing the law on patent, trademarks, or trade secrets.
=== Auditing ===
The central practice of Scientology is an activity known as auditing, which seeks to elevate an adherent to a state of Clear, one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an "auditor" addresses a series of questions to a preclear, observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An essential element in all forms of auditing is not to suggest answers to the preclear or invalidate or degrade what the preclear says in response. It is of utmost importance that the auditor create a safe and distraction-free session environment.
The term clear derives from a calculator button that deletes previous calculations. According to Scientology beliefs, Clears are "optimal individuals", and "they have been cleared of false information and memories of traumatic experiences that prevent them from adapting to the world around them in a natural and appropriate fashion." Scientologists believe that clears become more successful in their daily lives and are "healthier, experience less stress, and possess better communication skills than non-Scientologists."
"Auditing" is sometimes considered controversial, because auditing sessions are permanently recorded and stored within "preclear folders". Scientologists believe that the practice of auditing helps them overcome the debilitating effects of traumatic experiences, most of which have accumulated over a multitude of lifetimes. The folders are kept in accordance with the Priest/Penitent legal parameters which do not allow these folders to be seen or used for any other purpose or seen by any others who are not directly involved in supervising that person's auditing progress.