Scientology: A Religion in South Africa David Chidester University of Cape Town South Africa III. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS        At some moments, L. Ron Hubbard seemed to reject the designation “religion” for the beliefs and practices of Scientology. For example, he once observed that Scientology “is not a psycho-therapy nor a religion. It is a body of knowledge which, when properly used, gives freedom and truth to the individual.”13 In this context, however, Hubbard seems to have distinguished between the formal aspects of religion, such as creeds, practices, or membership, and the liberating truth. This way of distinguishing between “religion” and “truth” is a common religious strategy. For example, the Christian theologian Karl Barth insisted that his gospel was not a religion; it was truth. Maududi made the same claim for Islam, Franz Rosenzweig for Judaism, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan for Hinduism. In all these instances, religious thinkers have asserted the ultimate meaning and power of their “truth” by distinguishing it from religion.14      However, Hubbard also found that the term, “religion,” if properly defined, could be used to designate the liberating truth of Scientology. “Scientology,” Hubbard explained, “is a religion in the very oldest and fullest sense.” More than merely a “religious practice,” however, Scientology is a “religious wisdom.”15 The term, “religion,” according to Hubbard, “can embrace sacred lore, wisdom, knowingness of gods and souls and spirits.”16 In these terms, therefore, Hubbard asserted that Scientology should be recognized as a religion.      Hubbard identified the Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist roots of this religious wisdom. Like certain forms of Hinduism, especially Advaita Vedanta, Scientology supports the recognition that the human self is ultimately’ the supreme divine power of the universe. In the Sanskrit formula of the Vedanta, Atman (the human self) is Brahman (the divine). Like Buddhist practice, however, Scientology outlines a step-by-step trajectory towards liberation from ignorance that recalls the “Eightfold Path” of Buddhism. This Buddhist path moves through the stages of right understanding, dedication, communication, conduct, way of life, effort, awareness, and meditation to achieve a state of joyful liberation aloof from the world. In a similar way, Scientology identifies a religious path, or bridge, that marks out progress towards liberation. However, while the Buddhist path was designed in principle for a monastic life removed from ordinary human relations and occupations, the Scientology path has more in common with a Taoist approach to achieving spiritual harmony in the midst of the world. In the Taoist sense, liberation is a state of balance in which a human being is in harmony with all the conditions of existence. Scientology is directed towards attaining a similar harmony.      Echoes of these ancient Asian religions, therefore, can be found in the religious beliefs of Scientology. However, Hubbard concluded that the ultimate goals of these religions – spiritual liberation, knowledge, and harmony – were only rarely achieved in practice. Reflecting on his travels in Asia, Hubbard observed that he saw a great many studying but very few arriving. According to Hubbard, the ancient religious paths lacked the sense of “urgency necessary to arrive.”17 A modern religion, he concluded, had to do more than identify spiritual goals; it had to provide the practical means for achieving them.

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