Scientology Beliefs about the “Creation of the Universe”

Some of the information one finds on the internet about Scientology religious beliefs is frequently a mixture of misstatements, distortions of unpublished research notes and outright forgeries designed to twist and distort Scientology theology. Case in point: rumors on the internet regarding the Scientology “Creation Theory” which are completely false and forwarded in an attempt to ridicule Scientologists and denigrate their actual religious beliefs.

Most of the world’s religions express some view of the creation of the universe. Some religious traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, view the universe as essentially eternal, without beginning or end in the stream of time as we perceive it. The first books of the Bible contain an account of the creation of the universe which some Christian faiths hold to be allegorical and some hold to be an expression of literal fact. Other religious traditions have other views, but each attempts to explain this ultimate question of where we came from and how it came to be.

Scientology beliefs concerning the origins of the universe and Mankind follow the much older tradition of Eastern religion dating back to the Vedic Hymns. It is a tradition that holds one is in brotherhood with the universe, that spiritual enlightenment is attained through knowledge of self, that one has lived lifetime after lifetime, and that only through spiritual enlightenment can one fully understand and comprehend the Creator.

Scientology religious beliefs concerning the creation of the universe flow from the theory that the life force present in all living things (referred to in Scientology by the Greek letter theta) created the physical universe of matter, energy, space and time (known by the acronym MEST). Theta and MEST combine to form living organisms.

Scientology beliefs concerning the origins of the universe and Mankind follow the tradition of Eastern religion dating back to the Vedic Hymns.

In the Scientology view, if there was a “spark” that brought a first primeval brew of chemicals to life, that spark was not the MEST energy of electricity, mindlessly contributing some “lucky” voltage, but the volitional, spiritual element of theta taking an elemental step in the creation and conquest of MEST.

Just as the combination of theta and MEST produces life, their separation is synonymous with death of the organism. The human body, like all life forms, follows a cycle of birth, growth and survival, and ultimately death. The thetan, however—the individualized “unit” of life energy, which is the person—is not of the universe of matter, energy, space and time and thus does not cease to exist when the body dies. It is immortal.

As L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of the Scientology religion, observed, “A Scientologist, before he has gone very far, begins to realize the nature of the universe. He realizes this didn’t all just occur spontaneously one fine day out of some scientific formula, and he realizes there must have been an author to all of these things. And he also realizes, oddly enough, in his own participation.”

The origins of theta and the creation of the physical universe set forth in Scientology are described in The Factors, written by Mr. Hubbard in 1953.

Scientology Religious Beliefs

Scientology is a truly unique contemporary religion—the only major religion to emerge in the 20th century and flourish in the 21st. While it owes a spiritual debt to Eastern religions, it was born in the West and its religious beliefs are expressed in the technological language of the mid-20th century. Scientology adds a precise and workable technology for applying spiritual concepts to every aspect of life.

Scientology holds that Man is basically good, and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself, his relationships with his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe. In that regard, Scientology is a religious philosophy in the oldest and 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. In the wider arena, through the spiritual salvation of the individual, Scientology seeks the ultimate transformation—“A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology.”

In one form or another, all great world religions have held the hope of spiritual freedom—a condition free of material limitations and suffering. Scientology offers a very practical approach to attaining this spiritual aim. Of this, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote:

“For countless ages a goal of religion has been the salvage of the human soul.

“Man has tried by many practices to find the pathway to salvation.

“He has held the imperishable hope that someday, in some way, he would be free.”

Mr. Hubbard continued, “And here, after these ages of grief and suffering, through terrible wars and catastrophe, the hope still lives—and with that hope, ACCOMPLISHMENT.”

Thus, while the hope for such freedom is ancient, what Scientology is doing to bring about that freedom is new. And the technologies with which Scientology can bring about a new state of being in Man are likewise new. An understanding of these religious beliefs will illustrate how Scientology fits within the religious and spiritual traditions of the world.

L. Ron Hubbard wrote tens of millions of words on Scientology. His works include dozens of books, dozens more encyclopedic volumes containing thousands upon thousands of individual writings, and nearly 2,500 recorded lectures. He recorded the many varied mental and spiritual phenomena he encountered in his search for the truth. Out of this vast ocean of material, Mr. Hubbard distilled the fundamental axioms that comprise the Scientology religion.

Anyone wishing to find out more about what Scientologists truly believe should read Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, or any other Scientology book by L. Ron Hubbard. They are widely available in bookstores, libraries and at www.scientology.org.