Here is an interesting site which provides information about Scientology.
Scientology is not authoritarian. There is no enforced belief. Rather, a maxim in Scientology is that only those things which one finds true for himself are true. In Scientology one learns to think for himself – it is a voyage of self-discovery.
Hmmm... weird definition of "true". How can something be "true" if it's not? Perhaps a different word would be more appropriate.
The source and founder of the Scientology religion is L. Ron Hubbard, who devoted his life to finding answers to questions that have troubled mankind for millennia. Mr. Hubbard’s intellectual rigor, his curiosity and boundless spirit of adventure inspired his search, even as a young man.
The first widely released results of Mr. Hubbard’s researches did not lie in Scientology, however, but in another field of endeavor, “Dianetics.” The word Dianetics comes from the Greek words dia, meaning “through” and nous, meaning “soul,” and is defined as “what the soul is doing to the body.”
Dianetics constituted L. Ron Hubbard’s first breakthrough, and it was his initial discoveries in this area which led to further researches and the exact isolation of the source of life itself. Man does not have a spirit. He is a spirit. He has a mind and he has a body. Dianetics addresses and handles the effects of the spirit on the body. Dianetics thus helps provide relief from unwanted sensations and emotions, accidents and psychosomatic illnesses (ailments caused or aggravated by mental stress).
The word Scientology is taken from the Latin scio, which means “knowing in the fullest sense of the word,” and the Greek word logos, meaning “study of.” It literally means “knowing how to know.” Scientology itself is defined as “The study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.”
Scientology addresses the spiritual being. It directly raises his awareness and ability, and by so doing, he also becomes increasingly able to overcome the negative factors that impair him.
In over half a century of investigation, Mr. Hubbard isolated many, many fundamental truths about life, leading to his development of Scientology and the subsequent growth of the Scientology religion.
The philosophy seems to focus on self-help and working with an "auditor" (glorified pychologist), and then of course, they check you out with the "E-meter" to be sure you're in the right "spiritual state".
Auditing is assisted by use of a religious artifact which helps the auditor and preclear locate areas of spiritual distress or travail. This religious artifact is called an Electropsychometer,or E-Meter. (Electro-psycho-meter from electrometer, a calibrated device used for measuring extremely low voltages and psyche, the human soul, spirit or mind.) The E-Meter measures the spiritual state or change of state of a person and thus is of enormous benefit to the auditor in helping the preclear locate areas to be handled. The reactive mind’s hidden nature requires utilization of a device capable of registering its effects — a function the E-Meter does accurately.
When the E-Meter is operating and a person holds the meter’s electrodes, a very tiny flow of electrical energy (about 1.5 volts — less than a flashlight battery) passes down the wires of the E-Meter leads, through the person’s body and back into the E-Meter. The electrical flow is so small, there is no physical sensation when holding the electrodes.
The pictures in the mind contain energy and mass. The energy and force in pictures of painful or upsetting experiences can have a harmful effect upon an individual. This harmful energy or force is called charge.
When the person holding the E-Meter electrodes thinks a thought, looks at a picture, reexperiences an incident or shifts some part of the reactive mind, he is moving and changing actual mental mass and energy. These changes in the mind influence the tiny flow of electrical energy generated by the E-Meter, causing the needle on its dial to move. The needle reactions on the E-Meter tell the auditor where the charge lies, and that it should be addressed through auditing.
Different needle movements have exact meanings and the skill of an auditor includes a complete understanding of all meter reactions. Using the meter, the auditor ensures the process covers the correct area in order to discharge the harmful energy connected with that portion of the preclear’s reactive mind. When charge lessens, the person heightens his ability to think clearly in the area being addressed and his survival potential increases proportionately. As a result, the preclear discovers things about himself and his life — new realizations about existence, the milestones that mark his gains.
These realizations result in a higher degree of spiritual awareness and consequently a greater ability to succeed.
Scientologists are drug free which would explain why Tom is so opposed to ADHD medication. Honestly, after watching that video clip, I'm not so sure that medication would be a poor choice for him. Something just seems amiss...
