Left-Extremist Endeavours

2. Basic Tenets and Practices
The Scientology Organization (SO) sees itself as a "salvation religion"
182) - in the tradition of East Asian religions, especially
Buddhism - which allegedly wants to "... convey the status of full
mental freedom from the endless cycle of birth and death to the
human individual, and to free him from his bonds in the physical
universe ...". 183)
In the SO’s view, anybody’s "person" or "identity" is not his body
or name, but the ’thetan’ ["soul", "life energy"]; it has "... no mass,
no wavelength ... that is to say, nothing concrete ..." 184) . In its
ideal state as an ’Operating Thetan’ [OT], it is "... entirely the
causative agent ... [controlling] matter, energy, space, time [MEST]
and thought ..." and "... not in a body ..." 185) .
In order to reach this state, the first objective of Scientology is the
’Clear’, i.e. the person who "... as a result of the dianetic therapy,
is free of any - either active or potential - psychosomatic illnesses
or aberrations ..." 186) . For Scientologists, the latter means "... a
deviation from rational thought or behaviour ..." 187) . Deviations
from rationality may originate in so-called engrams. By ’engram’,
Scientologists understand "... a mental image picture which is a
recording of a period of physical pain and unconsciousness ..."
188) . By means of ’auditing’, these ’engrams’ can be discovered
and their effects be eliminated 189) .
Under this procedure, the auditor ("... someone who is listening
..."; a priest of the "Church of Scientology" thus designated or
someone trained as such) 190) is to help the so-called Pre-clear
[PC] ("... someone who is not yet Clear ...") 191) , through an established
sequence of questions or instructions, to detect areas of
grief or pain. 192) As an aid, the auditor uses the so-called E-meter
[Hubbard electrometer]. This device is to measure "the body’s resistance
and its variations due to spiritual interaction" against an
electric current of "about 1.5 V" while the Pre-clear, being questioned
by the auditor during the auditing session, holds both
electrodes of the device in his hands. 193) The movements of the
E-meter needle which are caused by the current flow are supposed
to indicate to the auditor whether the correct area of grief
and pain has been addressed 194) .
Auditing courses and the pertinent training materials are offered
by the Scientology Organization (SO) against payment.
In addition to conventional material, such as brochures, flyers/
handbills and the like, the Organization also uses the Internet for
recruitment and propaganda purposes. The Internet provides,
inter alia, information on SO subsidiary organizations, functionaries
and currently circulated publications.
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