Despite the twentieth century's torrent of technological advances, our civilization is in dire need of help. Since the
advent of an atomic age which spawned the distinct possibility that all life on Earth could be extinguished at the
push of a button, two generations have grown up under that specter. Partially in consequence, life in our society has
taken many strange twists: Children are forcibly administered tranquilizing drugs in schools in the name of control;
workers are taxed one hour's wages for every three on the job; and our youth emerge from their schools unable to
read or write. Through media manipulation, whole populations are directed what to think, what to believe or what
attitudes to hold. Such is the world that would be encountered by a time traveler from the start of this century, and
surely he would find it strange.

It is not easy to live with purpose, dignity and happiness in a world so engrossed in materialism and so utterly blind
to man's spiritual needs. Half an hour's walk through any urban landscape would convince virtually anyone that life
could be a happier proposition.

Which brings up the relevant question: What is Scientology?

Scientology is an applied religious philosophy.

The fastest growing religious movement on Earth, Scientology has become a firmly established and active force for
positive change in the world in less than half a century.

The Scientologyr religious philosophy contains a precise system of axioms, laws and techniques, exhaustively
researched and documented as workable. As such, it provides the individual with the ability to dramatically improve
conditions, not only in his own life but in the world around him.

In a word, Scientology works.
 

                       THE RELIGIOUS HERITAGE OF SCIENTOLOGY
 

The dream of making the world a better place has long been embraced by every religious movement in history.
Indeed, religion has served as the primary civilizing influence on the planet.

The knowledge that man is a spirit is as old as man himself. Only recently, with the advent of Western psychology,
have notions cropped up that man is merely another animal, a stimulus-response mechanism. Such espousals stand
at odds to every religious tradition, which   variously speak of the "soul," the "spirit" or the "life force" -   to
encompass a belief held by all civilized men.

The Scientology religion follows just this tradition of  man's search for his spiritual identity. In Scientology, the
individual himself is considered to be the spiritual being - a thetan (pronounced "thay'-tn"). The term is taken from
the Greek symbol for thought or spirit. Thus, although a new movement, Scientology is heir to the understanding of
thinking men since the beginning of human history, that man is a spiritual being who aspires to understand and
improve life. The search was long , but it has been successful and answers now exist in Scientology for anyone who
wishes to reach for them.
 
 

The Religion of Scientology

Scientology comprises a body of knowledge which extends from certain fundamental truths.

Prime among these truths:

Man is an immortal spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are
unlimited, even if not presently realized.

Scientology further holds man to be basically good, and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself and his
fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe. In that regard, Scientology is a religious philosophy in
the most profound sense of the word, for it is concerned with no less than the full rehabilitation of man's innate
spiritual self -- his capabilities, his awareness and his certainty of his own immortality. Furthermore, as religion
deals with the spirit in relationship to itself, the universe and other life, and is essentially the belief in spiritual
beings, Scientology follows a religious tradition that is at least as old as mankind. Yet what Scientology ultimately
represents is new. Its religious technology is new, its ecclesiastical organization is new, and what it means to
20th-century man is entirely new.

At the heart of Scientology lie its axioms that precisely define the fundamental laws and truths of life, including who
we are, what we are capable of, and most importantly, how we might realize our native spiritual abilities. These
axioms form the foundation of a vast body of wisdom that applies to the entirety of all life. From this wisdom has
come a great number of fundamental principles people can use to improve their immediate lives, as well as to
achieve spiritual immortality. In fact, there is no aspect of life that cannot be improved through the application of
Scientology principles.
 

Auditing

The primary means by which the basic truths of Scientology are applied to the rehabilitation of the human spirit is
called auditing. It is the central practice of Scientology, and it is delivered by an auditor, from the Latin audire, "one
who listens."

An auditor does not engage in some vague form of mental exploration, nor does an auditor offer solutions, advice or
evaluation. One of the fundamental principles of the Scientology faith is the truism that an individual can improve
his conditions only if he is allowed to find his own answers to life's problems. Scientology auditors help individuals to
accomplish this goal by guiding them to examine their existence through a carefully structured series of steps that
Mr. Hubbard developed. By following this gradient process, individuals can thereby improve their ability to face
what they are and where they are -- peeling away the layers of experience that have weighed so heavily upon them.

Auditing, then, is not something that is done to a person. Its benefits can be achieved only through active
participation and good communication.
 

The E-Meter

Unique to the Scientology religion -- and revolutionary in the field of spiritual development -- is the use by auditors
of the electropsychometer, or E-Meter. Auditors use the E-Meter to help isolate areas of spiritual travail or upset
that exist below a person's current awareness. Once brought to light, such trouble areas can then be examined by
the individual without the subjective influences that attend spiritual counseling practices of other religions.

Mr. Hubbard developed the E-Meter based on the knowledge that the mind contains mental image pictures, actual
recordings of past experiences. These pictures contain energy and mass. When a person views one of these mental
image pictures, or thinks a thought, the E-Meter registers with precision the changes which occur in this mental
mass and energy. The E-Meter does not diagnose or cure anything; it simply measures the state or change of state
of an individual and serves as a guide as to what should be addressed in an auditing session.

Dianetics announced the discovery of a previously unknown and harmful part of the mind which contains many
recordings of past experiences of loss, pain and unconsciousness in the form of mental image pictures. These exist
below a person's level of awareness and collectively accumulate to comprise what is called the Reactive Mind -- the
source of all unwanted fears, emotions, pains and psychosomatic illnesses. Step-by-step, auditing addresses the
Reactive Mind until its previously unknown content is uncovered and its harmful effects over an individual are
erased. When such occurs, one has achieved a new state of being that in Scientology is called Clear. One's basic
and fundamental personality, his artistry, personal force and individual character, his inherent goodness and
decency, are all restored.

While Clear is a new state for man, The Bridge leads him to even greater heights of spiritual freedom. Above Clear
are the Operating Thetan (OT) Levels. The thetan is the immortal spiritual being, the individual himself, not his
body or mind or anything else. It is not something he has, but what he is, a fact that becomes abundantly clear on
these upper levels. The goal of Clear is to remove from one's existence those things which are not part of his
inherent spiritual self. The goal of Operating Thetan is to overcome the travails of existence and regain the
certainty and abilities of one's native spiritual beingness. At this level one knows that he is separate and apart from
such material things as physical form or the physical universe.

Auditing at any level is an incomparable experience, its full description well beyond the scope of this booklet.
However, imagine something that has been troubling you all of your life -- some feeling or attitude or experience.
Then imagine sitting with an auditor and being asked an exact question -- the right question -- that enables you to
suddenly, instantly see the truth of this situation, the real source of it.

This is what auditing is, and the result is revelatory -- tremendous relief, understanding, a sense of freedom, the
ability to see everything more clearly, an increased awareness. It is almost magical. And it is essentially because of
this spiritual transformation that is experienced by someone somewhere in the world every minute of every day that
Scientology has grown as rapidly as it has.
 

Training

Another fundamental practice of the Scientology religion is training -- the study of Scientology principles. Many
courses of training are available in the Scientology religion because a person can, as stated, use the truths found in
Scientology to improve conditions in every area of life.However, the most important training courses are those
through which one learns to become an auditor. That is because the overriding principle in all courses is that
Scientology is an applied religious philosophy, and all training emphasizes application. The broad path the
Scientologist follows through auditing and the study of Scientology materials is known as The Bridge. This
embodies an ancient concept -- a long-envisioned route across a chasm between man's present state and vastly
higher levels of awareness. The Bridge is comprised of gradient steps so that gains are incremental, predictable and
apparent.

There are two sides to this Bridge: on one side, by receiving auditing, one reaches the highest states of awareness
as a spiritual being; on the other, one studies the axioms and principles of Scientology and learns to become an
auditor, ultimately advancing to the highest levels of auditor skill. The freedom available through Scientology
requires passage along both these paths. For while one becomes free through auditing, this must be augmented by
knowledge of how to stay free. Knowing the mechanisms by which spiritual freedom can be lost is itself a freedom,
and places one outside their influence. All told, then, The Bridge constitutes a route upward from the lowest states
of human existence to hitherto unimagined spiritual heights. And in that respect, it represents a spiritual dream that
is as old as man himself.

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. These encompass more than 500,000 pages of writings, nearly
3,000 recorded lectures and more than 100 films. He is the only source of the religion, and he has no successor. A
fundamental doctrine of the Scientology religion is that spiritual freedom can be attained only if the path outlined in
these works is followed without deviation, for it is an intensively researched and workable route.

To comprehend Scientology as a religion, one must look past the parameters one might be familiar with, such as
those of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and view the East. For instance, although Scientology affirms the existence
of a Supreme Being, its practice does not include worship of such. Rather, the goal of the Scientology religion is to
bring one to a level to make his or her own conclusions. Thus, like many Eastern religions, salvation in Scientology
is attained through personal spiritual enlightenment. This, then, is the essence of Scientology: The Bridge, the
auditing and training that takes place every day of the year in every Church of Scientology in the world. The
mission of Scientology is, after all, nothing less than the rehabilitation of the human spirit. And, four decades after
the Church's birth, it is because of its ability to unerringly attain this age-old goal that men and women from all
walks of life and diverse cultures in nations throughout the world continue to reach for the promise of the
Scientology faith in ever-increasing numbers.
 
 

                                THE CREED OF SCIENTOLOGY
 

We of the Church believe:

That all men of whatever race, color, or creed were created with equal rights;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives;

That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense;

That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and
governments;

That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter
or utter or write upon the opinions of others;

That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind;

That the souls of men have the rights of men;

That the study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned
in non-religious fields;

And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.

And we of the Church believe:

That man is basically good;

That he is seeking to survive;

That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.

And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid man:

To destroy his own kind;

To destroy the sanity of another;

To destroy or enslave another's soul;

To destroy or reduce the survival of one's companions or one's group.

And we of the Church believe that the spirit can be saved and that the spirit alone may save or heal the body.