The core activities of Scientology are auditing and training. These are the agencies of spiritual salvation. Only by these means can the thetan _that is the individual _ be liberated and achieve the spiritual state of being "at cause" over life and the material world. Auditing, which confronts the individual with his own past pain and traumas, helps him to establish control of his life and frees him from the irrational impulses of there active mind. Thus, in being audited, the pre-clear may be said to be embarking on a spiritual quest for salvation, the benefits of which are accretive, and which lead ultimately to a condition in which the thetan ceases to be "enturbulated" with material conditions (MEST). Such a spiritual quest, with salvation as its ultimate end, divergent as may be the outward forms and doctrinal specifications, is the central overriding concern of all the world's advanced religions. Training is directed to communicating wisdom to anyone who is seeking enlightenment as well as to those who engage in helping others in their endeavour to attain salvation. Implicit in these processes is the demand that the individual face up to his own painful past experiences and overcome the tendency to transfer blame to others for his own failings. Training to this end is achieved through a series of hierarchically graduated courses in which the student learns and perfects the techniques of auditing which, once the appropriate standard is attained, is believed to be effective in application to any pre-clear. Training is organised as an intensive programme, and anyone who has witnessed the concentrated dedication of those undergoing training courses, as I have on visits to the Church of Scientology at Saint Hill Manor, could not but be impressed by the single-mindedness and seriousness of purpose uniformly manifested by the students, which is, of course, a religious commitment. >>>>>