From those beginning days, the advancement of Dianetics was continuous, methodical and at least as revelatory as what had preceded it. At the heart of what Mr. Hubbard began to wrestle with through late 1950 and early 1951 was yet another key philosophic point. That is, if Dianetics constituted the definitive explanation of the human mind, then what was it that utilized the mind? Or more precisely, what was it that constituted life itself? In a decisive statement on the matter, he explained, “The further one investigated, the more one came to understand that here, in this creature Homo sapiens, were entirely too many unknowns.”

The ensuing line of research, embarked upon some twenty years earlier, proved nothing short of momentous. In another critical statement on the matter, Mr. Hubbard wrote, “I have been engaged in the investigation of the fundamentals of life, the material universe and human behavior.” And if many before him had “roved upon this unmapped track,” he added, they had left no signposts. Nevertheless, in the early spring of 1952, through the course of a pivotal lecture in Wichita, Kansas, the result of this research was announced: Scientology.

An applied religious philosophy, Scientology is contained in hundreds of books and more than 3,000 tape-recorded lectures. All told, these works represent a statement of Man’s nature and potential, and even if echoed in various ancient scriptures, that statement is absolutely unique. Among the essential tenets of the Scientology philosophy: Man is an immortal spiritual being; his experience extends well beyond a single lifetime and his capabilities are unlimited even if not presently realized. In that sense, Scientology represents what may be the ultimate definition of a religion; not a system of beliefs but a means of spiritual transformation.

How Scientology accomplishes what it does is through the study of Mr. Hubbard’s scriptures and the application of principles therein. The central practice is auditing, which is delivered by an auditor, from the Latin audire, “to listen.” Auditing is not some imprecise form of mental probing and, factually, has nothing to do with either psychology or psychotherapy. The auditor does not evaluate or in any way tell one what to think; for auditing is not done to a person, and its benefits can only be achieved through active participation and good communication. Indeed, auditing rests upon the maxim that only by allowing one to find his own answers to life’s problems can those problems be eliminated.

Precisely to that end, the auditor employs processes—exact sets of questions to help one examine otherwise unknown and unwanted sources of difficulty. The procedure is predicated on the fact that if the true source of what troubles us is fully viewed and understood, then the trouble would no longer be. Thus, for example, if one were suffering the ill effects of some long-buried engramic trauma, auditing is the means by which that trauma may be inspected, understood and nullified. In that regard, auditing may be seen as a procedure by which we can recover those things we are unaware of, not inspecting, but which adversely affect us. As more and more hitherto unknown data from the reactive mind is recovered, one commensurately becomes more and more aware of who he is, what has happened to him and the extent of his true potentials.

What all this means subjectively is, of course, somewhat ineffable; for by its very definition auditing involves an ascent to states not hitherto known. But in very basic terms it may be said that Scientology does not ask one to strive towards higher ethical conduct, greater awareness, happiness and sanity. Rather, it provides a route to states where all this simply is, where one is more ethical, able, self-determined and happier because that which makes us otherwise has been eliminated. Or in other words, as Mr. Hubbard himself once explained to those new to Scientology, “We are extending to you the precious gift of freedom and immortality—factually, honestly.”