Scientology, which means "knowing how to know," is a religion based on the works of American philosopher and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). The first church was established In Los Angeles in 1954, and today there are more than 4,300 Scientology churches, missions and groups around the world.Scientology holds in common many of the beliefs of other religions and philosophies. It considers Man to be a spiritual being with more to him than flesh and blood.

Scientology comprises a body of knowledge, which extends from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these are:

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

Scientology believes Man to be basically good, not evil. It is Man’s experiences that have led him to commit evil deeds, not his nature. Often, he mistakenly seeks to solve his problems by considering only his own interests, which then causes trouble for both himself and others.

Scientology believes that Man advances to the degree that he preserves his spiritual integrity and values and remains honest and decent. Indeed, he deteriorates to the degree that he abandons these qualities.

But because Man is basically good, he is capable of spiritual betterment. And it is the goal of Scientology to bring him to a point where he is capable of sorting out the factors in his own life and solving his own problems.

Scientology believes that an individual placed in a position where he can increase his abilities, where he can confront life better, where he can identify the factors in his life more easily, is also in a position to solve his own problems and so, better his own life.

With lowered spiritual awareness come problems, difficulties with others, illness and unhappiness.

The goal of Scientology is to reverse this diminishing awareness and, in that sense, wake the individual up. As one becomes more and more alert, his abilities increase and he is capable of greater understanding and thus better able to handle his life.

Scientology, then, contains solutions to the problems of living. Its end result is increased awareness and spiritual freedom for the individual and rehabilitation of his basic decency, power and ability. It can and does accomplish these ends routinely, daily, all over the world.

Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one is asked to believe anything on faith. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by applying its principles and observing or experiencing the results. Scientology is something one does, not something one believes in.

Among these solutions are the techniques for alleviating spiritual trauma contained in the book Dianetics, by L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientologists believe that the "reactive mind" (that portion of the mind that works on a totally stimulus-response basis, not under the volitional control of the individual) exerts force and the power of command over one's awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and action. Through spiritual counseling called "auditing," Scientologists reduce and ultimately erase the power of the reactive mind. The reactive mind is of no benefit to the individual and is a source of irrationality, fears and nightmares. Its eradication achieves the State of Clear and brings to view the individual himself and is a landmark step in the full discovery of one's true nature and in ultimately achieving full spiritual awareness and freedom.

The ultimate goal of Scientology is true spiritual enlightenment and freedom for the individual.