Individuals are free to believe this or not; past lives are not a dogma in Scientology, but generally Scientologists, during their auditing, experience a past life and then know for themselves that they have lived before. (What is Scientology?, pp. 546-7)

A major emphasis of the narrative or mythic dimension of Scientology is thus upon the activities and experiences of the thetan in times past, whether these have to do with the creation of matter, energy, space and time, or with significant events believed to have affected the thetan during this life or in a previous life. A further aspect of the narrative dimension is the account given in various Scientology publications of the life history of L. Ron Hubbard, the authoritative source of the teachings and practices of Scientology.