Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices, invented in 1950 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, regarding the human mind. Dianetics was originally conceived as a form of psychological treatment, but was rejected by the psychological and medical establishments as pseudoscientific. It was the precursor to Scientology and has since been incorporated into it. It involves a process referred to as "auditing", which utilizes an electrical resistance meter, ostensibly to remove emotional burdens and "cure" people from their troubles.
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and established organizations to promote and practice Dianetics techniques. Hubbard created Scientology in 1952 after losing the intellectual rights to his literature on Dianetics in bankruptcy. He would lead the Church of Scientology, variously described as a cult, a new religious movement, or a business, until his death in 1986.
Xenu, also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology scriptures hold that the thetans of these aliens adhere to humans, causing spiritual harm.
Free Zone, Freezone, and Independent Scientology are umbrella terms for the groups, organizations, and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and practices independently of the Church of Scientology (COS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, to those who have adapted practices far from COS beliefs and practices.
The Church of Scientology maintains a wide variety of beliefs and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives, some of which, preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of past-life events.
The reactive mind is a concept in Scientology formulated by L. Ron Hubbard, referring to that portion of the human mind that is unconscious and operates on stimulus-response, to which Hubbard attributed most mental, emotional, and psychosomatic ailments:
What can it do? It can give a man arthritis, bursitis, asthma, allergies, sinusitis, coronary trouble, high blood pressure and so on, down the whole catalog of psychosomatic ills, adding a few more which were never specifically classified as psychosomatic, such as the common cold.
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, sometimes abbreviated as DMSMH, is a book by L. Ron Hubbard about Dianetics, a pseudoscientific system that he claimed to have developed from a combination of personal experience, basic principles of Eastern philosophy and the work of Sigmund Freud. The book is considered part of Scientology's canon. It is colloquially referred to by Scientologists as Book One. The book launched the movement, which later defined itself as a religion, in 1950. As of 2013, New Era Publications, the international publishing company of Hubbard's works, sells the book in English and in 50 other languages.
Since the founding of the Church of Scientology in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard, the relationship between Scientology and psychiatry has been dominated by strong opposition by the organization against the medical specialty of psychiatry and of psychology with themes relating to this opposition occurring repeatedly throughout Scientology literature and doctrine. According to the Church of Scientology, psychiatry has a long history of improper and abusive care. The group's views have been disputed, criticized, and condemned by experts in the medical and scientific community and have been a source of public controversy.
Science of Survival is a 1951 book by L. Ron Hubbard, extending his earlier writings on Dianetics. Its original subtitle was "simplified, faster dianetic techniques", although more recent editions have the subtitle "Prediction of human behavior". The book is considered part of Scientology's canon.
An engram, as used in Dianetics and Scientology, is a detailed mental image or memory of a traumatic event from the past that occurred when an individual was partially or fully unconscious. It is considered to be pseudoscientific and is different from the meaning of "engram" in cognitive psychology. According to Dianetics and Scientology, from conception onwards, whenever something painful happens while the "analytic mind" is unconscious, engrams are supposedly being recorded and stored in an area of the mind Scientology calls the "reactive mind".
History of Dianetics and Scientology begins around 1950. During the late 1940s, L. Ron Hubbard began developing a mental therapy system which he called Dianetics. Hubbard had tried to interest the medical profession in his techniques, including the Gerontological Society, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, but his work was rejected for not containing sufficient evidence of efficacy to be acceptable.
A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed is a 1990 book about L. Ron Hubbard and the development of Dianetics and Scientology, authored by British former Scientologist Jon Atack. It was republished in 2013 with the title Let's sell these people A Piece of Blue Sky: Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology. The title originates from a quote of Hubbard from 1950; an associate of Hubbard's noted him saying that he wanted to sell potential members "a piece of blue sky".
Scientology: A History of Man is a book by L. Ron Hubbard, first published in 1952 under the title What to Audit by the Scientific Press of Phoenix. According to the author, it provides "a coldblooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years." It has gone through many editions since its first publication and is a key text of the Church of Scientology. The book has been ridiculed by critics of Scientology for its unusual writing style and pseudoscientific claims; it has been described as "a slim pretense at scientific method ... blended with a strange amalgam of psychotherapy, mysticism and pure science fiction; mainly the latter."
This is a Timeline of Scientology and its forerunner Dianetics, particularly its foundation and development by author L. Ron Hubbard as well as general publications, articles, books and other milestones.
The Church of Scientology publicly classifies itself as a religion, but scholars and other observers regard it as a business, because the organization operates more like a for-profit business than a religious institution. Some scholars of sociology working in religious studies consider it a new religious movement. Overall, as stated by Stephen A. Kent, Scientology can be seen as a "multi-faceted transnational corporation that has religion as only one of its many components. Other components include political aspirations, business ventures, cultural productions, pseudo-medical practices, pseudo-psychiatric claims, and, an alternative family structure."
This bibliography of Scientology includes Scientology and Dianetics-related books, periodicals and other issues authored by L. Ron Hubbard and those produced by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations. Books bearing L. Ron Hubbard's name are considered texts of Scientology's canon.
The amount of material on Dianetics and Scientology is extensive, to say the least. This material is composed of books by L. Ron Hubbard ; compilations of his works; taped lectures; auditor training materials ; course packages; booklets; a large number of magazines and annuals; and video recordings of the major annual events.
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was an American pulp fiction author. He wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mystery, western, and romance. His United States publisher and distributor is Galaxy Press. He is perhaps best known for his self-help book, the #1 New York Times bestseller Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, and as the founder of the Church of Scientology.
Scientology in Egypt has no official presence because non-monotheistic religions are not recognized in Egypt. The Church of Scientology has claimed that Egypt is one of the "countries in which Dianetics and Scientology services are ministered", but there are no known membership statistics available. In 2002, two Scientologists were detained by Egyptian authorities under the charges of "contempt of religion". As of 2010, books authored by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and printed by the Church of Scientology for its front groups were being distributed in Egypt—even bearing the approval of Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni learning institution in the Muslim world. Narconon, an organization which promotes Hubbard's drug abuse treatment, has a branch in Ismailia Governorate called "Narconon Egypt".
Scientology is in part derived from, and shares elements with, a number of esoteric or occult systems. The extent of the influence of specific occult belief systems on Scientology is a subject of debate amongst scholars.
Excalibur is an unpublished manuscript written in 1938 by L. Ron Hubbard, later the founder of Scientology. The contents of Excalibur formed the basis for Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950) and some of Hubbard's later publications.
