What Happens in a Church of Scientology?

Have you ever wondered what happens in a Church of Scientology?

Find out here in this video – Inside a Church of Scientology.

Is Scientology a secret society?

A secret society is an organization of initiated persons whose members, purposes, and rituals are kept secret. Human groups throughout history have maintained secret societies. The ceremonies of initiation into such a society typically begin with an oath pledging secrecy as to all proceedings of the society, ascribing special obligations to its members, and assenting to penalties for violation of the oath. This is followed by tests of the candidate’s worthiness, including physical courage and even painful mutilations. A dominant theme in the initiation trials of most of these societies is the symbolism of death and rebirth. After the candidate has passed the prescribed tests, the secret knowledge is transmitted to him. Secret societies have served as schools in which the elders instruct the young men in the ways of their society.

The Church of Scientology and its actions are anything but secretive. In fact, the Church published a 1,000-page What is Scientology?, an encyclopedic reference book that explains everything one might want to know about the Church. Another reference work, primarily for scholars, is Scientology: Theology and Practice of a Contemporary Religion. The Church also holds open house events and tours regularly, and many of our churches open their facilities free of charge for use by community and civic groups.

There is nothing mysterious about Scientology or its members and practices. The Church’s leaders are in close touch with the membership and they hold events throughout the year which are attended by tens of thousands.

Scientologists are actively involved in their communities, visible and effective.

The Church has found that those who allege the Church is secret are almost always those who never bothered to try and communicate or find out anything, in which case they would have discovered Scientologists to actually be more outgoing with information than adherents of other faiths.

Scientology and Dianetics Auditing Results

Routine testing by Scientology organizations of every preclear has made Dianetics and Scientology the most validated practices in the field of the mind and spirit. Auditing gains which a person feels subjectively can be shown objectively through testing during the course of an auditing program. Numerous tests are used by technical staff to help gauge a preclear’s progress. There are IQ, personality, aptitude, coordination and other tests a preclear takes prior to starting an auditing program. These provide a prediction of how much auditing it may take to achieve a certain result with the preclear. When the preclear is retested afterwards, the improvements he is experiencing personally can be plotted on a graph which validates his gains. The results are used by the auditor to help determine further processes to audit.

Though testing is primarily meant to assist technical staff to deliver a preclear the greatest benefits in his auditing, the consistent results observed have changed man’s viewpoint of himself in many regards. Prior to Dianetics, psychiatry and psychology were adamant in their assertion that a person’s IQ could not be changed. Their pronouncements were disproven in the face of study after study wherein persons showed dramatic increases in IQ after auditing.

Another routine test is the Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA). This test accurately measures the preclear’s estimation of ten different personality traits. These rise markedly in auditing, reflecting the preclear’s gains. Preclears report being calmer, more stable, more energetic and more outgoing as a direct result of auditing and scores on the OCA furnish corroborative data.

Aptitude tests are also a reliable indicator of auditing results. Improvements in aptitude test scores correlate with a decrease in accident-proneness. Many other tests are available which test coordination and different perceptions such as vision, hearing, colorblindness, balance and so on, and these, too, improve as a result of auditing.

Naturally, individual progress is variable since it is largely influenced by the preclear’s dedication and the frequency of sessions. Therefore, clearly defined rates of improvement are impossible to establish. The Church makes no claims or guarantees of the gains someone will make in auditing. Church staff, however, have seen so many remarkable improvements in test scores that they expect such as a matter of course.