20 world religions and faith practices 398

Church of Scientology Š‡  ”‡‡† ‘ ˆ – Š‡  Š—”…Š ‘ ˆ  …‹‡–‘Ž‘‰› • ƒ›•ǣ ‡ ‘ ˆ – Š‡ Š—”…Š „‡Ž‹‡˜‡ǣdzǥ dzŠƒ–ƒŽŽ ‡ Šƒ˜‡ ‹ƒŽ‹‡ƒ„Ž‡ ”‹‰Š–• – ‘ –Š‡‹” ‘™ ”‡Ž‹‰‹‘—• ’”ƒ…–‹…‡• ƒ† –Š‡‹” ’‡”ˆ‘”ƒ…‡Ǥdz Š‡ Š—”…Š ‘ˆ …‹‡–‘Ž‘‰› „‡Ž‹‡˜‡• Dz–Šƒ–ƒ‹•„ƒ•‹…ƒŽŽ›‰‘‘†ǡ–Šƒ–Š‡‹••‡‡‹‰–‘•—”˜‹˜‡ǡሾƒ†ሿ –Šƒ– Š‹• •—”˜‹˜ƒŽ †‡’‡†• ‘ Š‹•‡Žˆ ƒ† —’‘ Š‹• ˆ‡ŽŽ‘™• ƒ† Š‹• ƒ––ƒ‹‡–‘ˆ„”‘–Š‡”Š‘‘†™‹–Š–Š‡—‹˜‡”•‡Ǥ History The Church of Scientology sprouted from the creative genius of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard Born in 1911, he spent much of his childhood on his grandfather’s Montana ranch while his parents served abroad in the US Navy During the 1920s, Hubbard started to visit his parents as a teenager in Asia, where he was introduced to Taoism, Buddhism, and other Eastern philosophies As a child, he read extensively, and by the age of twelve was studying the theories of Freud “Hubbard always claimed that his ideas of Dianetics originated in the 1920s and 1930s By his own account, he spent a great deal of time in the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital’s library, where he would have encountered the work of Freud and other psychoanalysts.”2 In 1929 he returned to the United States and in 1930 enrolled in George Washington University, studying mathematics, engineering, and nuclear physics Hubbard wanted to answer the basic questions relating to the human being’s nature, and decided to further research on his own To finance this, he began a literary career in the early 1930s, publishing numerous stories and screen plays in various genres, including adventure, mystery, and science fiction H ubbard continued his travels and then served in the United States Navy during World War II He suffered near fatal wounds during the war, and used some of his own theories concerning the human mind to assist in his healing.3 In 1938, L Ron Hubbard authors a manuscript called š…ƒŽ‹„—”, which contains ideas that were later incorporated into Scientology ~ 397 ~