III. THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTOLOGY' S SPIRITUAL MESSAGE

III.I. collapse, awareness of the collapse (catastrophe), self-transformation: a hero' s personal way

    The structure of the spiritual message develops from a complex of themes which the pupil who is moving towards freedom should realize he is part with all possible clarity. The message is directed personally to each individual and at each formally marked stage of the way -- the Bridge -- the themes of the message find a new depth and completeness.

    The practice of the members of religious orders assumes amplified contemplation over separate themes of special messages. Some Christian orders practice an amplified meditation over key events from the life of Jesus Christ. The purpose of meditation on separate themes and episodes of the suffering of Christ is internal transformation and purifying of the meditator and laying oneself into the hands of Christ. A parallel personal practice exists in some Sufi orders. It is possible to give similar examples from many religious cultures. A common condition which makes a way of internal purification and transformation possible is a special theme structure of the spiritual message.

    We shall outline two characteristics to the spiritual message and themes of Scientology: Collapse, awareness of the collapse (catastrophe), self-transformation: A Hero's Personal Way

    The collapse is regarded as a universal catastrophe which made the person forget his true powerful and infinite self. The infinitely strong and powerful self who had created space and time sank into dependence upon his own creations. The central theme which varies diversely in the Scientology spiritual message is: "The creator who has been enslaved by his own creations has lost his freedom". Awareness of this loss is simultaneously the first step to release. From here comes the necessity of awareness of all catastrophes, experienced during millions of years of existence. Here follows the characteristic of the requirement to realize millions of years as one's personal existence.

    The second feature of the theme of collapse-awareness-release is its heroic image in the Scientology message. The heroic theme means that the search of the new powerful and eternal self is first of all a result of personal efforts of the searcher on the way -- the Bridge. Originally and fundamentally the person is good -- this is one of the basic tenets of the Scientology creed. It should for comparison be emphasized that this clearly expressed position is directly opposite to the Christian message which insists on damage and sinfulness in the nature of man from the beginning and on the impossibility of correction by human efforts. (We recall the formula: As it is impossible for the leopard to change its spots, and it is impossible for a curved tree to become straight, then it is impossible through any personal efforts to get rid of original sin and perverted nature.). Looking at man as a hero -- i.e., the belief that man is originally good and can with the help of his own efforts and human help from teachers and special practice return to his original condition of power -- was, in Christianity, always considered to be paganism. Not entering into a detailed discussion of the Christian difference from the Scientology message, attention should, however, be given to this specific divergence as one of the sources of difficulties of dissemination of the Scientology message in cultures where Christianity already prevails.

    For our analysis, however, the comparison is important to emphasize: collapse, awareness of collapse and release are regarded as a personal way of the hero, having walked on the Bridge to total personal freedom. Long practice for achieving the awareness of the duration of personal existence (and recall of one's self) for millions of years and the personal way of the hero are contrary to the personal way and personal self-consciousness offered in the Christian message. The themes of the Scientology message are being realized during the religious service which also has a theme structure.
 
 
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