In Scientology, the concept of thetan (pronounced THAY-tan, /'θeɪtən/) is similar
to the concept of spirit or soul found in other belief systems. The term is derived from the Greek letter Theta, which in Scientology represents "the source of
life, or life itself."[1]
Thetans have been described in the Church of Scientology in a number of
ways.
- A "thetan is an immortal spiritual being; the human soul."[2]
- "The being who is the individual and who handles and lives in the body."[1]
- "A thetan is not a thing, a thetan is the creator of things."[1]
- A thetan is "the person himself – not his body or his name, the physical universe, his mind, or anything else; that which is
aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual. The thetan is most familiar to one and all as you."[1]
When a person dies – or, in Scientology terms, when a thetan abandons their physical body – they go to a "landing station" on
the planet Venus, where the thetan is re-implanted
and told lies about its past life and its next life. The Venusians take the thetan, "capsule" it, and send it back to Earth to be
dumped into the ocean off the coast of California. Says Hubbard, "If you can get out of that, and through that, and wander around
through the cities and find some girl who looks like she is going to get married or have a baby or something like that, you're
all set. And if you can find the maternity ward to a hospital or something, you're OK. And you just eventually just pick up a
baby." To avoid these inconveniences, Hubbard advised Scientologists to refuse to go to Venus after their death.[3][4]
Thetan in Scientology doctrine
The term and concept were introduced by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who
adopted the Greek letter theta (Θ) to represent "the
source of life and life itself".[5]
Hubbard first spoke of "theta-beings" in a lecture series of March 1952.[6] He attributed the coining of the word to his wife Mary
Sue.[7]
Hubbard once defined a thetan as: "...having no mass, no wave-length, no energy and no time or location in space except by
consideration or postulate. The spirit is not a thing. It is the creator of things."[1] Nonetheless, in a lecture series later published as a book ("The Phoenix
Lectures"), he pointed to a study that implied a thetan manifests a small but measurable amount of mass:
- "From some experiments conducted about fifteen or twenty years ago – a thetan weighed about 1.5 ounces [45 grams]!
Who made these experiments? Well, a doctor made these experiments. He weighed people before and after death, retaining any mass.
He weighed the person, bed and all, and he found that the weight dropped at the moment of death about 1.5 ounces
[45 grams] and some of them 2 ounces [60 grams]. (Those were heavy thetans.)"[8]
Although Hubbard did not name the doctor concerned, there was indeed such an attempt, by a Dr. Duncan MacDougall, to measure the weight of dying patients to determine the weight of the soul.
MacDougall's experiments took place about fifty years before Hubbard's lectures, not fifteen or twenty. They are generally not
regarded as having any sort of scientific validity.[9]
According to Hubbard's son Ronald DeWolf (born L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.), his father stated
that thetans are immortal and perpetual, having willed themselves into existence at some point several trillion[10] years ago.[11][12] After
they originated, thetans generated "points to view" or "dimension points", causing space to come into existence. They agreed that
other thetans' dimension points existed, thus bringing into existence the entire universe. All matter, energy, space, and time
exists solely because thetans agree that it exists.
Jon Atack, whose book A Piece of Blue
Sky details how he reached Operating Thetan level V before leaving
Scientology, describes Hubbard's doctrines about thetans: "Thetans are all-knowing beings, and became bored because there were no
surprises. Hubbard asserted that the single most important desire in all beings is to have a 'game'. To have a 'game' it was necessary to 'not know' certain things, so certain perceptions were
negated ('not-is-ed')." Since thetans knew everything, this required them to abandon or suppress perceptions and knowledge. Over
time, the loss of perception accumulated and certain thetans began to cause harm to others. MEST (physical) beings also sought to
"trap" thetans in order to control them. Thetans came to learn contrition, punishing themselves for their own "harmful"
acts.[13]
According to Hubbard, an essential part of the thetans' game was the "conquest" of matter, energy, space, and time by the life
force, theta. This has produced multiple universes which have ended and begun in succession, each new one being more solid and
entrapping than the last. The thetans have by now become so enmeshed in the physical universe that many have identified
themselves totally with it, forgetting their quadrillions[14] of years of existence and their original godly powers.[13]
Nonetheless, thetan powers are said to remain potent and restorable. One of the Church of Scientology's stated goals is "the
rehabilitation of the human spirit", by which it means the restoration of the thetan's original abilities. Hubbard claims that
thetans are able to change reality through "postulates" - decisions made by the individual about the nature of the reality around
them. Some thetans are said to have (mis)used this ability to "implant" others with hypnotic suggestions, forcing other thetans
to "cluster" around bodies (hence body thetans). This sort of directed control is referred
to as "other-determinism". Scientology seeks to undo it and return the thetan to "self-determinism", where he can control himself
and his environment. The eventual goal is to achieve "pan-determinism", where he acts for the good of all.
Operating Thetan
-
According to Scientology doctrine, a thetan exists whether operating a human body or not. Scientology advertises itself as
being able to "rehabilitate" the thetan of a practitioner to a state where the individual can operate with or without a
"meat body". The term "operating thetan" would then apply as it does when an
individual is operating a body. The Operating Thetan (OT) levels are the upper level courses in Scientology.
The Church defines "Operating Thetan" as "knowing and willing cause over life,
thought, and matter, energy,
space and time
(MEST)."[15]
The Church of Scientology states as a point of doctrine that an individual exists with or without a body.[16] Scientology says that people with proper Scientology training can
"exteriorize with full perceptics" (leave the body in spirit form and return) after completing OT levels, but this claim has yet
to be validated by any research.
Cleared Theta Clear
Even beyond the Operating Thetan levels comes the "Cleared Theta Clear", a godlike state which Hubbard describes this way:
"A thetan who is completely rehabilitated and can do everything a thetan should do, such as move MEST and control others from
a distance, or create his own universe; a person who is able to create his own universe or, living in the MEST universe is able
to create illusions perceivable by others at will, to handle MEST universe objects without mechanical means and to have and feel
no need of bodies or even the MEST universe to keep himself and his friends interested in existence". [17]
Body thetan
-
A Body Thetan is an alien thetan who is 'stuck' in, on or near a human body, and all human bodies are said to be covered in
these misplaced thetans, or clusters of them. This information is not divulged until a Scientologist reaches the third Operating
Thetan level (or OT III). Most Body Thetans were said by Hubbard to be a result of a prehistoric "Incident" involving Xenu, as well as other similar alien
occurrences on the whole track.[18]
Further still, by the time the subject reaches the level of OT VII, it is revealed to him that his physical body is not just
covered with Body Thetans, but is literally composed of them.
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e
- ^ Official Glossary
of Scientology & Dianetics Terms
- ^ Sappell, Joel, Welkos, Robert W.. "Defining the Theology", Los Angeles Times, 1990-06-24, p. A36:1. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
Additional convenience link at [1].
- ^ Cempa, Joe; "Petrolia's New Neighbors", North Coast Journal, June
1991.
- ^ Science of Survival, L. Ron Hubbard pg.3 pub. Publications
Organization ISBN 0-88404-001-1
- ^ Scientology: Milestone One, L. Ron Hubbard pub. Golden Era
Productions. Audio lectures with transcripts
- ^ Hubbard, The Auditor 21, p.1
- ^ Hubbard, The Phoenix
Lectures, p. 147. Bridge Publications, 1982 ISBN 0-88404-006-2.
- ^ Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. (2003-10-27). Soul Man. Snopes. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. “MacDougall's ... methodology ... was suspect, [his] sample size far too small, and [his]
ability to measure changes in weight imprecise. For this reason, credence should not be given to the idea his experiments proved
something, let alone that they measured the weight of the soul ... His postulations on this topic are a curiousity, but nothing
more.”
- ^ Billion in Long
Scale
- ^ PBS Late Night interview with Ron DeWolf
- ^ Hopkins, Joseph M., Is L. Ron Hubbard Dead?, Christianity Today, 18 February 1983, p 31
- ^ a b Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of
Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
- ^ Thousands of billions in Long Scale
- ^ L. Ron Hubbard's Congress Lectures: Glossary, "OT", Bridge Publications
Inc.
- ^ Church of Scientology, Scientology Beliefs,
accessed 03/28/06
- ^ Hubbard, Scientology 8-8008, pg 114 (1st ed), pg. 151 (1990
ed.)
- ^ [2]
External links
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