SCI
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Scientologists view Hubbard as an extraordinary, Messiah-like figure, a thetan who remained on Earth to guide others toward spiritual liberation, and as the discoverer of the source of human suffering and the technology to overcome it. Scientologists often refer to Hubbard affectionately as "Ron". Church management describes Hubbard's physical death as "dropping his body" to continue research at higher spiritual levels, and the Church's hagiography of Hubbard contributes to the "prophetic authority" attributed to Hubbard.
Every Scientology Org maintains a "shrine room" arranged like an office set aside for Hubbard's return, and furnished to resemble those he used in life, including a bust and large photograph of him. The Church presents that Hubbard's work is complete and unalterable, and their archival project has buried copies of his writings on metal disks in underground vaults intended to preserve them against catastrophe.
== Beliefs ==
Scientology teaches that each person is an immortal spiritual being called a thetan, the true self that exists independently of the body, but has a body. According to Hubbard, thetans have lived through many past lives and continue existing after bodily death, after which they take on another newly-born human body. Negative experiences from earlier lifetimes are said to affect a person's present condition, and Scientology techniques are presented as methods for addressing those past traumas.
Scientology believes that the physical universe—called MEST, an acronym for matter, energy, space, and time—was originally created by thetans, who later became trapped within it and lost awareness of their spiritual nature. A central aim of Scientology practice is the recovery of the thetan's innate abilities, including exteriorization, the state when a thetan separates from the physical body and operates independently of it.
Scientology does not define or worship a supreme being, and focuses on the spiritual potential of the individual thetan rather than on the nature of a deity.
Scientology maintains a strong doctrinal hostility toward psychiatry and psychology. Hubbard taught that psychiatrists were responsible for severe harms in both ancient and modern history, and Scientology regards psychiatry as a corrupt and destructive profession. This stance is promoted institutionally through the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), an anti-psychiatry organization established by the Church.
== Practices ==
=== Auditing ===
=== Ethics and justice ===
=== Symbology ===
Scientology celebrates seven calendar events including L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, Auditor's Day, and New Year's. There is a Sunday service which is primarily of interest for non-members and beginners. Weddings and funerals are also held.
== Advanced teachings ==
=== Operating Thetan levels ===
=== Space opera and the Wall of Fire ===
== Controversies ==
Scientology has been involved in extensive public controversy since its founding. Major areas of controversy include its financial demands of members, abuses of members and staff, extralegal actions against critics and former members, and aggressive litigation. Scholarly and governmental assessments vary, but most state that Scientology has a long record of adversarial conduct. Religious scholars Urban and Lewis described the Church of Scientology as "the world's most controversial new religion", and "arguably the most persistently controversial of all contemporary new religious movements".
=== Financial demands ===
Scientology has been criticized for the high prices of its training courses and auditing services, which can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Members complain that the Church uses high-pressure sales tactics to extract large donations for the purchase and renovation of Scientology properties, and to push Scientologists to pre-pay for future services. The Church maintains tight secrecy surrounding their advanced teachings, which are accessible only to higher-level members, and the mystery is used to further entice members to advance their progress more quickly. Members in the US are able to reduce their taxes by deducting as charitable gifts the amounts they pay for Scientology services.
=== Abuse of members ===
Members have been pressured to cut ties with family members through the practice known as disconnection. Confidential information disclosed during counseling sessions has been misused for internal disciplinary actions, and disclosed publicly to others. Scientology's ethics and justice systems are used to control members and keep them in the group; per Kent, the system's purpose is "to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology".
=== Abuse of staff ===
Staff work extremely long hours for minimal pay, and are coercively pressured to remain on staff after expressing a wish to leave. Staff who leave are presented with a freeloader bill, retroactively charging for services they received as part of their employment, and easily running into the tens of thousands of dollars.