This glossary contains the Dianetics and Scientology terms appearing in What Is Scientology?
A
Definition: aberration: a departure from rational thought or behavior. It means basically to err, to make mistakes, or more specifically to have fixed ideas which are not true. The word is also used in its scientific sense. It means departure from a straight line. If a line should go from A to B, then if it is aberrated it would go from A to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, to some other point, and finally arrive at B. Taken in this sense, it would also mean the lack of straightness or to see crookedly as, for example, a man sees a horse but thinks he sees an elephant. Aberrated conduct would be wrong conduct, or conduct not supported by reason. When a person has engrams, these tend to deflect what would be his normal ability to perceive truth and bring about an aberrated view of situations which then would cause an aberrated reaction to them. Aberration is opposed to sanity, which would be its opposite. From the Latin, aberrare, to wander from; Latin, ab, away, errare, to wander.
Definition: ABLE: an acronym for Association for Better Living and Education International.
Definition: action phrases: word phrases contained as part of the content of engrams which dictate some type of “action” in the mind.
Definition: affinity: the degree of liking or affection or lack of it. It is the feeling of love or liking for something or someone.
Definition: affinity-reality-communication (ARC) triangle: a triangle which is a symbol of the fact that affinity, reality and communication act together to bring about understanding. No point of the triangle can be raised without also raising the other two points, and no point of it can be lowered without also lowering the other two points.
Definition: analytical mind: that part of the mind which one consciously uses and is aware of. It is the portion of the mind which thinks, observes data, remembers it and resolves problems.
Definition: antisocial personality: a person who possesses a distinct set of characteristics and mental attitudes that cause him to suppress other people in his vicinity. This is the person whose behavior is calculated to be disastrous. Also called suppressive person.
Definition: AO: abbreviation for Advanced Organization.
Definition: apparency: something that seems to be, that appears to be a certain way; something that appears to be but is different from the way it looks. In Dianetics and Scientology apparency is used to mean something that looks one way but is, in actual fact, something else. For example, a person “gives an apparency of health,” whereas he is actually sick. From the Latin, apparere, to appear.
Definition: ARC: a word coined from the initial letters of affinity, reality and communication.
Definition: ARC break: a sudden drop or cutting of affinity, reality or communication with someone or something. Upsets with people or things (ARC breaks) come about because of a lessening or sundering of affinity, reality or communication or understanding. Scientologists usually use the term ARC break instead of upset, because if one discovers which of the three points of understanding have been cut, one can bring about a rapid recovery in the person’s state of mind.
Definition: assessment: an auditing technique which helps to isolate specific areas or subjects on which a preclear has charge so that they can be addressed in auditing.
Definition: auditing: Scientology counseling, taken from the Latin word audire which means “to hear or listen.” Auditing is a very unique form of personal counseling which helps an individual look at his own existence and improves his ability to confront what he is and where he is.
Definition: Auditing by List: a technique used in certain auditing procedures.
Definition: auditor: a minister or minister-in-training of the Church of Scientology. Auditor means one who listens, from the Latin audire meaning “to hear or listen.” An auditor is a person trained and qualified in applying auditing to individuals for their betterment. An auditor does not do anything to a preclear, he works together with the preclear to help the preclear defeat his reactive mind.
B
Definition: beingness: the assumption or choosing of a category of identity. Beingness can be assumed by oneself or given to oneself or attained. Examples of beingness would be one’s own name, one’s profession, one’s physical characteristics, one’s role in a game – each or all of these could be called one’s beingness.
Definition: Book One: a colloquial term for the first book published on the subject of Dianetics, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. A Book One Auditor is someone who knows the data in this book and uses it to audit others.
C
Definition: case: a general term for a person being treated or helped. It is also used to mean the entire accumulation of upsets, pain, failures, etc., residing in a preclear’s reactive mind.
Definition: case gains: the improvements and resurgences a person experiences from auditing; any case betterment according to the preclear.
Definition: Case Supervisor: a highly trained auditor who is also trained in the technology of supervising auditing. The Case Supervisor reviews all auditing sessions done by auditors under his charge. His purpose is to see that the technology is standardly applied for the greatest possible benefit for the preclear.
Definition: CCHR: abbreviation for Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
Definition: charge: harmful energy or force contained in mental image pictures of experiences painful or upsetting to the person, which is handled in auditing.
Definition: Claims Verification Board: an official group within the Church of Scientology which facilitates refund requests.
Definition: Clay Table Processing: a particular process used in certain types of auditing.
Definition: Clear: a highly desirable state for the individual, achieved through auditing, which was never attainable before Dianetics. A Clear is a person who no longer has his own reactive mind and therefore suffers none of the ill effects that the reactive mind can cause. The Clear has no engrams which, when restimulated, throw out the correctness of his computations by entering hidden and false data.
Definition: control: the ability to start, change and stop something. One is successful in his life to the degree that he can start or change or stop the things and people within his environment. For example, a driver who cannot exert control over a car by making it start, move about and stop when he wants it to is quite likely to have accidents. A person who can control a car, on the other hand, will be able to arrive where he intends to.
Definition: counter-effort: an effort of something or someone in a person’s environment against that person.
Definition: C/S: abbreviation for Case Supervisor. Also used to designate a Case Supervisor direction of what to audit on a preclear (as in “he was given a new C/S”), or the giving of such a direction by the Case Supervisor (as in “the preclear was C/Sed for his next action”). See also Case Supervisor in this glossary.
Definition: CSI: abbreviation for Church of Scientology International.
D
Definition: Data Series: a series of policy letters written by L. Ron Hubbard which deal with logic, illogic, proper evaluation of data and how to detect and handle the causes of good and bad situations within groups and organizations.
Definition: determinism: the ability to direct or determine the actions of someone or something. Thus something done “on one’s own determinism” would be caused by the person himself, not by a force exterior to him.
Definition: Dianetics: comes from the Greek words dia, meaning “through” and nous, meaning “soul.” Dianetics is a methodology developed by L. Ron Hubbard which can help alleviate unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses. It is most accurately described as what the soul is doing to the body through the mind.
Definition: dramatization: the acting out of an engram in its entirety or in part by an aberrated person in his current environment. Aberrated conduct is entirely dramatization. For example, a woman receives an engram in which she is kicked in the side and told that she is no good, that she is always changing her mind. At some time in the future, this engram could be reactivated and the woman might experience a pain in her side, feel that she is no good or get the idea that she is always changing her mind. This would be a dramatization of the engram.
Definition: dwindling spiral: a condition characterized by continuous worsening, decreasing or shrinking.
Definition: dynamics: the eight urges, drives or impulses of life.
E
Definition: E-Meter: short for Electropsychometer, a specially designed instrument which helps the auditor and preclear locate areas of spiritual distress or travail. The E-Meter is a religious artifact and can only be used by Scientology ministers or ministers-in-training. It does not diagnose or cure anything. It measures the mental state or change of state of a person and thus is of benefit to the auditor in helping the preclear locate areas to be handled.
Definition: engram: a recording made by the reactive mind when a person is “unconscious.” An engram is not a memory – it is a particular type of mental image picture which is a complete recording, down to the last accurate detail, of every perception present in a moment of partial or full “unconsciousness.”
Definition: enturbulence: turbulence or agitation and disturbance.
Definition: Est Repair Rundown: an auditing action designed to repair the damage done to a person mentally and spiritually by the practice of est (Erhard Seminars Training). Est was an offbeat group which used destructive techniques, and some people new to Scientology are found to have been previously involved with est. It is necessary to undo the harmful effects of est before such persons can make adequate progress in Scientology auditing.
Definition: exteriorization: the state of the thetan being outside his body with or without full perception, but still able to control and handle the body. When a person goes exterior, he achieves a certainty that he is himself and not his body.
F
Definition: floating needle: a rhythmic sweep of the needle on an E-Meter dial at a slow, even pace, back and forth, back and forth. A floating needle means that the charge on a subject being audited has dissipated, and is one of the indications of a process being complete.
Definition: FSO: abbreviation for Flag Service Organization.
Definition: FSSO: abbreviation for Flag Ship Service Organization.
G
Definition: genetic entity: a term coined in early Dianetics research to denote that part of a human being which takes care of the automatic mechanisms of the body, such as heartbeat, respiration, etc.
Definition: gradient: a gradual approach to something, taken step by step, so that, finally, quite complicated and difficult activities or concepts can be achieved with relative ease.
Definition: grant beingness: to let someone else be what he is. Listening to what someone has to say and taking care to understand them, being courteous, refraining from needless criticism, expressing admiration or affinity are examples of the actions of someone who can grant others beingness.
H
Definition: HASI: an acronym for Hubbard Association of Scientologists International.
Definition: hat: a Scientology slang term for a particular job, taken from the fact that in many professions, such as railroading, the type of hat worn is the badge of the job. The term hat is also used to describe the write-ups, checksheets and packs that outline the purposes, know-how and duties of a job in a Scientology organization.
Definition: hatting: the training given to a person so that he or she can successfully perform the functions and produce the products of a specific job, duty or activity. See also hat in this glossary.
Definition: havingness: the concept of being able to reach. By havingness we mean owning, possessing, being capable of commanding, taking charge of objects, energies and spaces. Specific processes exist in Scientology to help a preclear increase his havingness, and these are appropriately called Havingness Processes.
Definition: HCO: abbreviation for Hubbard Communications Office.
Definition: HGC: abbreviation for Hubbard Guidance Center.
Definition: Hubbard Consultant Outpoint-Pluspoint List: a list of illogics (outpoints) and logics (pluspoints) used in an auditing process to help the preclear locate and handle illogical thinking in the area being addressed.
I
Definition: lAS: abbreviation for International Association of Scientologists.
Definition: I HELP: an acronym for International Hubbard Ecclesiastical League of Pastors.
Definition: INCOMM: an acronym for International Network of Computer Organized Management.
Definition: int: short for interiorization, the action of going into something too fixedly and becoming part of it too fixedly. Int is also used to refer to the auditing procedure which handles the adverse mental and spiritual effects of interiorization.
Definition: invalidate: refute, degrade, discredit or deny something someone else considers to be fact.
J
K
Definition: knowledge-responsibility-control (KRC) triangle: a triangle which is a symbol of the fact that knowledge, responsibility and control act together as a whole entity. In order to handle any area of one’s life, it is necessary to know something about it, take some responsibility for it and control it to the degree necessary to achieve the desired result. This triangle interacts best when used with high ARC, thus it interlocks with the ARC triangle. See also affinity-reality-communication (ARC) triangle and control in this glossary.
L
Definition: Listing and Nulling: a specialized technique used in certain auditing processes.
Definition: lock: a mental image picture of an experience where one was knowingly or unknowingly reminded of an engram. It does not itself contain a blow or a burn or impact and is not any major cause of upset. It does not contain unconsciousness. It may contain a feeling of pain or illness, etc., but is not itself the source of it. For example, a person sees a cake and feels sick. This is a lock on an engram of being made sick by eating cake. The picture of seeing a cake and feeling sick is a lock on (is locked to) the incident (unseen at the moment) of getting sick eating cake.
M
Definition: mental image pictures: three-dimensional pictures which are continuously made by the mind, moment by moment, containing color, sound and smell, as well as other perceptions. They also include the conclusions or speculations of the individual. Mental image pictures are composed of energy, have mass, exist in space and follow definite routines of behavior, the most interesting of which is the fact that they appear when somebody thinks of something.
Definition: mest: a word coined from the initial letters of matter, energy, space and time, which are the component parts (elements) of the physical universe.
Definition: meter: short for E-Meter. See E-Meter in this glossary.
Definition: missed withhold: a withhold which has almost been found out by another, that leaves the person who has the withhold in a state of wondering whether or not his hidden deed is known. See also withhold in this glossary.
N
Definition: NCLE: abbreviation for National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice.
Definition: NED: an acronym for New Era Dianetics.
Definition: New Era Dianetics for OTs (NOTs): a series of auditing actions, delivered as part of the OT levels, developed by L. Ron Hubbard during his research into New Era Dianetics in the late 1970s.
Definition: NOTs: an acronym for New Era Dianetics for OTs. See New Era Dianetics for OTs (NOTs) in this glossary.
O
Definition: Objectives: short for Objective Processing, an auditing action which helps a person to look or place his attention outward from himself.
Definition: OCA: abbreviation for Oxford Capacity Analysis.
Definition: Operating Thetan: a state of being above Clear, in which the Clear has become refamiliarized with his native capabilities.
Definition: organizing board: a pattern of organization which expresses every function a Scientology church needs to attend to in order to minister to its congregation.
Definition: OSA: an acronym for Office of Special Affairs.
Definition: OT: abbreviation for Operating Thetan. See Operating Thetan in this glossary.
Definition: overrun: continue an auditing process or a series of processes past the point of completion.
Definition: overt: a harmful act or a transgression against the moral code of a group. When a person does something that is contrary to the moral code he has agreed to, or when he omits to do something that he should have done per that moral code, he has committed an overt. An overt violates what was agreed upon. An overt can be intentional or unintentional.
P
Definition: pan-determined: able to view both sides. Pan-determinism is across determinism or determinism of two sides. If a person were playing both sides of a chess game, he would be exercising pan-determinism. See also determinism in this glossary.
Definition: PDH: abbreviation for pain-drug-hypnosis, a behavioral modification technique used by military and intelligence services in which pain, drugs or hypnosis, or any combination of these, are administered to drive an individual into a state whereby he can be given suggestions or commands subconsciously. Dianetics auditing can undo the effects of PDH. For more information,
Definition: perceptic: any sense message such as sight, sound, smell, etc.
Definition: postulate: a conclusion, decision or resolution made by the individual himself to resolve a problem or to set a pattern for the future or to nullify a pattern of the past. For example, a person says, “I like Model T Fords. I am never going to drive another car.” Years later, no longer consciously aware of this postulate, he will wonder why he is having so much trouble with his Buick; it’s because he has made an earlier promise to himself. In order to change he has to change that postulate.
Definition: potential trouble source: a person who is in some way connected to and being adversely affected by a suppressive person. Such a person is called a potential trouble source because he can be a lot of trouble to himself and to others. See also suppressive person in this glossary.
Definition: preclear: a person who is receiving Scientology or Dianetics auditing on his way to becoming Clear, hence pre-Clear. Through auditing he is finding out more about himself and life.
Definition: process: an exact set of questions asked or directions given by an auditor to help a person locate areas of spiritual distress, find out things about himself and improve his condition.
Definition: processing: another word for auditing. See auditing in this glossary.
Definition: PTS: abbreviation for potential trouble source. See potential trouble source in this glossary.
Q
Definition: Qual: short for Qualifications Division.
R
Definition: RD: abbreviation for rundown. See rundown in this glossary.
Definition: reactive mind: that part of the mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under a person’s volitional control, and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions.
Definition: reality: that which appears to be. Reality is fundamentally agreement — what we agree to be real is real.
Definition: rehab: short for rehabilitation, an auditing action which is used to help a person regain a former ability, state of being or more optimum condition which has been discredited, denied or suppressed.
Definition: restimulation: the “awakening” of an old engram, which occurs when a person’s present environment contains enough similarities to the elements found in the engram to cause a reactivation of it. When an engram is restimulated, a person can experience similar pains and emotions to those contained in the original incident.
Definition: R6EW: the designation for the auditing process used on Grade VI.
Definition: RTC: abbreviation for Religious Technology Center.
Definition: rundown: a series of related actions in Scientology which culminate in a specific end result. For example, the Drug Rundown consists of several different auditing processes and actions which, done fully and in sequence, result in the freeing of a person from the mental and spiritual effects of drugs.
S
Definition: Scientology: comes from the Latin scio, which means “know” and the Greek word logos, meaning “the word or outward form by which the inward thought is expressed and made known.” Thus, Scientology means knowing about knowing. Scientology is an applied religious philosophy developed by L. Ron Hubbard. It is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.
Definition: Sea Org: short for Sea Organization.
Definition: self-determinism: the condition of determining the actions of self; the ability to direct oneself. See also determinism in this glossary.
Definition: service facsimile: a consideration that one must be consistently in a certain state in order to survive. This consideration will cause the individual to deliberately hold in restimulation selected parts of his reactive mind to explain his failures in life. For example, a person may keep an old injury in restimulation so that his family has to look after him.
Definition: SHSBC: abbreviation for Saint Hill Special Briefing Course.
Definition: SMI: an acronym for Scientology Missions International.
Definition: SP: abbreviation for suppressive person. See suppressive person in this glossary.
Definition: stable terminal: someone who is reliable, responsible and who can be depended upon to competently perform the duties of his job.
Definition: standard memory banks: recordings in the analytical mind of everything perceived throughout the lifetime up to the present by the individual except painful emotion and physical pain, which are recorded in the reactive mind.
Definition: suppressive person: a person who possesses a distinct set of characteristics and mental attitudes that cause him to suppress other people in his vicinity. This is the person whose behavior is calculated to be disastrous. Also called antisocial personality.
T
Definition: theta: energy peculiar to life which acts upon material in the physical universe and animates it, mobilizes it and changes it; natural creative energy of a being which he is free to direct toward survival goals. The term comes from the Greek letter theta (Theta), which the Greeks used to represent thought.
Definition: thetan: an immortal spiritual being; the human soul. The term soul is not used because it has developed so many other meanings from use in other religions and practices that it doesn’t describe precisely what was discovered in Scientology. We use the term thetan instead, from the Greek letter theta (Theta), the traditional symbol for thought or life. One does not have a thetan, something one keeps somewhere apart from oneself; one is a thetan. The thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else. It is that which is aware of being aware; the identity which IS the individual.
Definition: time track: the consecutive record of mental image pictures which accumulates through a person’s life. It is a very accurate record of a person’s past. As a rough analogy, the time track could be likened to a motion-picture film — if that film were three-dimensional, had fifty-seven perceptions and could fully react upon the observer.
Definition: TRs: abbreviation for training routines, practical drills which can greatly increase a student’s ability in essential Definition: auditing skills, such as communication.
U
Definition: unmock: become nothing, disappear, cease to exist.
V
W
Definition: whole track: the whole span of the time track. See also time track in this glossary.
Definition: WISE: an acronym for World Institute of Scientology Enterprises.
Definition: withhold: an overt a person has committed but is not talking about; an unspoken, unannounced transgression against a moral code by which a person was bound. Any withhold comes after an overt. See also overt in this glossary.
Definition: WW: abbreviation for Worldwide – the worldwide headquarters of the Church of Scientology at Saint Hill, where management was located until the early 1970s.
X
Y
Z
The state of Operating Thetan—a being able to operate free of the encumbrances of the material universe—is a central part of the ultimate salvation sought in the Scientology religion. This state is represented by a symbol consisting of the letters OT with the T inside the O and each of the points of the T ending at the O’s circumference.![[image]](http://www.whatisscientology.org/cgi-bin/img.pl?pg0144.jpg)
The Scientology symbol consists of the S for Scientology and two triangles. The lower of the triangles is the ARC triangle, described above. The top triangle is called the KRC triangle. The K stands for knowledge, the R for responsibility and C for control. As with ARC, these three elements interact; increasing one’s sense of responsibility for something will lead to one’s ability to increase his knowledge and will then result in an increased ability to control. In that manner, by raising each point of the KRC triangle, the individual is able to be in control of his or her life in all of its aspects.
The cross, a symbol which predates Christianity by thousands of years, and versions of which have been used by such diverse ancient peoples as the Phoenicians, Hindus, Navajos and Aztecs, has a special design and significance in the Scientology religion.