Scientology is rumoured to be the cause of the much talked about split between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. But what is this ‘religion’ all about?
What is scientology?
Scientology, literally meaning “knowing how to know”, was founded in 1952 by L Ron Hubbard, an American science fiction writer and author of the best-selling book Dianetics, which launched a popular self-enhancement movement which became the Church of Scientology. According to www.scientology.org — the website set up by this ‘church’ — “Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being”. At the core of scientology is a belief that each human has a reactive mind which responds to traumas that cloud the analytic mind, keeping us from experiencing reality.
The ultimate goal, according to Hubbard, is to attain a spiritual state called ‘clear’. The church believes, “Science is something one does, not something one believes in.”
How scientology works
Hubbard argued that unhappiness sprang from mental aberrations (or “engrams”) caused by early traumas. Members of this ‘religion’ go through a process called ‘auditing’ to find the sources of the trauma and relive the experience in an attempt to neutralise the damage.
This process involves a ‘lie-detecting’ device called E-meter, which according to scientologists, measures the body’s electric flow as an auditor asks a series of questions to locate the source of the trauma.
According to scientology.org, “Auditing uses processes — exact sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor, to help a person locate areas of spiritual distress, find out things about himself and improve his condition.”
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Scholars believe the church promotes the idea of an ancient intergalactic civilisation in which millions of beings were destroyed and became what are known as “body thetans,” which can be countered by more auditing. Scientologists reject psychiatry and drugs because they believe it interferes with the functioning of the rational mind.
Controversy and speculation
The ‘religion’ shot to infamy in 1991, when Time put its many tenets on its cover in an article called “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power”. In the article, journalist Richard Behar challenged scientology’s legitimacy as a religion when he wrote, “In reality the church is a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.” Eleven top scientologists, including Hubbard’s wife, were sent to prison in the early 1980s for wiretapping more than 100 private and government agencies in attempts to block their investigations.
The Internal Revenue Service stripped the mother church of its tax-exempt status in 1967. A federal court ruled in 1971 that Hubbard’s medical claims were bogus and that E-meter auditing could no longer be called a scientific treatment. According to Time, during the early 1970s, IRS conducted its own auditing sessions and found that Hubbard was skimming millions of dollars from the church, stashing it in Swiss bank accounts. But IRS granted them the status in 1993.
“What I believe in my own life is that it’s a search for how I can do things better, whether it’s being a better man or a better father or finding ways for myself to improve,” said Tom Cruise, possibly scientology’s most famous follower, in a recent interview to Playboy magazine. “Individuals have to decide what is true and real for them.” Following the split between celebrity couple Cruise and Katie Holmes, News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch likened scientology to a “weird cult” on Twitter.
How many scientologists are there?
A star-studded roster which includes high-profile actors like Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Mimi Rogers and Anne Archer, performer Sonny Bono, and Nancy Cartwright, the voice of cartoon star Bart Simpson.
The Church of Scientology claims it has 10,000 scientology churches, missions, related organisations and affiliated groups in 165 countries. It also says, “There are over 200,000 Scientology Volunteer Ministers, making it one of the largest relief organisations in the world.”
Scientology and India
The first scientology centre in India, Dianetics & Scientology, was opened in New Delhi in 2002 and has shifted locations since then. Currently, the centre in Jangpura houses a bookshop with titles such as The Science of Survival and The Problems of Work. It even has a Facebook page.
The centre provides advisory courses on business, disaster management, communication, the art of selling, even marriage and family. These courses can cost anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000. The amount is considered as a donation.