Much of the controversy involving Scientology arises from the logical extension of the concept of past lives to what is effectively eternity. In this context, past lives not only take place prior to Earth, but also in non-Earth civilizations, and even in universes prior to this one, where conditions and rules of existence can be different. One could even have past lives in civilizations where advanced technology was common and/or routine. Thus a person who once lived in a world destroyed by nuclear war could become upset living in a world where nuclear power has been re-discovered.
Scientology also holds that people are composite beings, in that there is a body awareness which can have recalls in parallel to the genetic line. This entity is separate and distinctly different from the spirit, called a thetan in Scientology. Scientology procedures exist to address this body level awareness, although primary consideration is given to the liberation of the Spirit.
Scientology does not consider the lack of awareness of past lives to be a good thing. It attributes the general amnesia of past lives to a variety of causes, including, but not limited to, pain, unconsciusness, lack of personal responsibility, and even the decision to forget what had just transpired.

It is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals, originally established as a secular philosophy in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard, then recharacterized by him in 1953 as an "applied religious philosophy". Hubbard defined the word "Scientology" to mean "a study of knowledge."
Its doctrines were established by Hubbard over a period of about 33 years, beginning in 1952 and continuing until his death in January 1986. Most of the basic principles of the church were set out during the 1950s and 1960s.










L. Ron Hubbard, circa 1970.

History
Scientology followed on the heels of Dianetics, an earlier system of self-improvement techniques laid out by Hubbard in 1950 By the mid-1950s, Hubbard had relegated Dianetics to a sub-study of Scientology. A chief difference between Dianetics and Scientology is that Dianetics focuses on rehabilitating an individual's mind, giving him full conscious recall of his experiences while Scientology is more concerned with rehabilitating the human spirit.
Scientology also covers topics such as ethics and morality, drug and chemical residues as they relate to spiritual wellbeing, communication, marriage, raising children, dealing with work-related problems, educational matters and the very nature of life (The Dynamics).

Scientology practices are structured in a series of levels, because Hubbard believed that rehabilitation takes place on a step by step basis. For example, the bad effects of drugs should be addressed before other issues can be addressed. The steps lead to the more advanced strata of Scientology's more esoteric knowledge. This is described as a passage along "the Bridge to Total Freedom", where each step of the Bridge promises a little more personal freedom in the area specified by the Bridge's definition.

Belief system
Man
is an immortal, spiritual being whose experience extends beyond a single lifetime and who owns a mind and a body. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not realized. He is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.
That which is true has to be observed by oneself. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.
A person is basically good, but becomes "aberrated" by moments of pain and unconsciousness in his life.

Past lives
According to Dianetics the cause of "aberrations" in the human mind was an accumulation of pain and unconscious memories of traumatic incidents, some of which predated this life. In Scientology this view was extended by declaring that thetans have existed for tens of trillions of years. During that time they have been exposed to a vast number of traumatic incidents, and have made a great many decisions that influence their present state. According to Hubbard's, it is both impossible and undesirable to recall each and every such event from such vast streches of time. Hubbard's 30-year development of Scientology thus focused on streamlining of the process to address only key factors.
According to Hubbard, some of the past traumas may have been deliberately inflicted in the form of "implants" used by extraterrestrial dictatorships to brainwash and control people. Scientology doctrine includes a wide variety of beliefs in extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described by Hubbard as "space opera".

The "Hidden Truth"
about the nature of the universe is taught to only the most advanced Scientologists, those who have achieved the level "clear", in a series of courses known as the Advanced Levels. The contents of these courses are held in strict confidence within Scientology. Because Scientology is a mystery religion, the more closely guarded and esoteric teachings imparted at these higher levels may not always be entirely consistent with its entry-level teachings.

With what methods does Scientology work?
1)Auditing
Central practice of Scientology is "auditing", which is a communication with a trained Scientology counselor or auditor, who follows an exact procedure toward rehabilitating the human spirit. Most auditing uses an E-meter.
The auditing process is intended to help the new practitioner or “preclear” to unburden himself of traumatic incidents, ethical transgressions and bad decisions. Auditing requires that the preclear is a willing and interested participant who understands the questions. Auditors are trained not to "evaluate and they are forbidden from suggesting, interpreting, degrading or invalidating the preclear's answers.
Scientologists have claimed benefits from auditing including improved IQ, improved memory, attention deficit problems and improved relaxation. But an Australian report stated that auditing involved a kind of command hypnosis that could lead to potentially damaging delusional dissociative states. Licensed psychotherapists have alleged that the Church's auditing sessions amount to mental health treatment without a license, but according to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being.

2)The ARC Triangle
According to scientology there are three interrelated intrinsically spiritual components that make up successful "livingness" affinity (emotional responses), reality (an agreement on what is real) and communication (the exchange of ideas). Scientologists utilize ARC as a central organizing principle in their lives, based upon the belief that improving one aspect of the triangle increases the level of the other two.

3) The Tone Scale
Is a characterization of human mood and behavior by various positions on a scale. The scale ranges from -40 or "Total Failure" to +40 or "Serenity of Beingness." Positions on the tone scale are usually designated by an emotion, but Hubbard also described many other things that can be indicated by the tone scale levels, such as aspects of an individual's health, sexual behavior, survival potential, or ability to deal with truth. The tone scale is used by Scientologists in everyday life to evaluate people.

Scientology and other religions
Scientology teaches that it is fully compatible with all existing major religions.
However, the Church of Scientology has clashed with other religious groups, including the Church of England, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church, all of which have at times criticized Scientology's activities and doctrines. Many members of the Roman Catholic Church reject Scientology, because of the CoS's views on Jesus, and believe Scientology to be a form of agnosticism, which many Christians regard as a heresy. The Church of Scientology has also worked closely with other religious groups on community outreach projects and campaigns against perceived persecution by governments around the world.

Origins
Immediately prior to his first Dianetics publications, Hubbard was involved with occultist Jack Parsons in performing rites developed by Aleister Crowley. Some investigators have noted similarities in Hubbard's writings to the doctrines of Crowley, though the Church of Scientology denies any such connection. An influence that Hubbard did acknowledge is the system of General Semantics developed by Alfred Korzybski in the 1930s. Scientology also reflects the influence of the Hindu concept of karma, as well as the less metaphysical theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and William Sargant.
Hubbard was repeatedly accused of adopting a religious façade for Scientology to allow the organization to maintain tax-exempt status and to avoid prosecution for false medical claims. These accusations continue to the present day, bolstered by numerous accounts from Hubbard's fellow science-fiction authors that on various occasions he stated that the way to get rich was to start a religion.
There are also claims that Scientology was started as a result of a wager between science fiction authors. Some versions of this story have the other participant as Kurt Vonnegut, while other versions name Robert A. Heinlein. These stories have not been confirmed by any of the alleged participants.

Organization of Church of Scientology
A Church of Scientology was first incorporated in Camden, New Jersey as a non-profit organization in 1953. Today's Church of Scientology was established in 1954. It forms the center of a complex worldwide network of corporations dedicated to the promotion of L. Ron Hubbard's philosophies in all areas of life. This includes:
drug treatment centers (Narconon);
criminal rehab programs (Criminon);
activities to reform the field of mental health (Citizens Commission on Human Rights);
projects to implement Hubbard's educational methods in schools (Applied Scholastics);
a "moral values" campaign (The Way to Happiness);
World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, or WISE, which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses;
a consulting firm based on Hubbard's management techniques (Sterling Management Systems);
a publishing company, e-Republic, which publishes Government Technology and Converge magazines and coordinates the Center for Digital Government;
and a campaign directed to world leaders, as well as the general public, to implement the 1948 United Nations document "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" with emphasis on religious freedom

Independent Scientology groups
A number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official Church. Such groups are breakaways from the original Church. The Church takes an extremely hard line on breakaway groups often subjecting them to considerable legal and social pressure. Breakaway groups avoid the name "Scientology" so as to keep from being sued, instead referring to themselves collectively as the Free Zone.

Controversy and criticism
Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, Scientology has from its inception been the most controversial. The Church has come into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries numerous times over the years, though supporters note that many major world religions have found themselves in conflict with civil government in their early years.
Scientology is considered a religion in the US, Canada and Australia. In US the church obtained "public charity" status. Applications for charity status in UK and Canada were rejected in 1999. Some European governments including Germany do not consider the Church to be a religious organization, but instead as a commercial enterprise or totalitarian cult.
Other countries, notably in Europe, have regarded Scientology as a potentially dangerous cult and have significantly restricted its activities at various times. In Germany Scientology is not considered a religion by the government, but a commercial business with potentially anti-democratic tendencies, and as a result has been subjected to state surveillance. The UK government does not recognize Scientology as a religion. The church has been subjected to considerable pressure from the state in Russia.
Scientology has also been a focus of criticism by anti-cult campaigners and has aroused controversy for its high-profile campaigns against psychiatry and psychiatric medication. The many legal battles fought by the Church of Scientology since its inception have given it a reputation as a litigious organization.
However, a number of countries have embraced Scientology, including Italy, Spain and Thailand. Also, the number of legal battles in which the Church has engaged seems to have peaked in the early-to-mid-1990s, and has been declining since then. Since then many Scientologists adopted a more relaxed view toward minor criticism. The overall attitude in the Scientology community has partially shifted to spreading its believe through direct application to communities, rather than combating those who attempt to stop or belittle it.

Scientology is vehemently opposed to psychiatry and psychology. Hubbard's was bitterly critical of psychiatry's citation of physical causes for mental disorders, such as chemical imbalances in the brain. Hubbard denied that psychiatry has shown that some psychiatric disorders are related to anatomical and chemical cerebral anomalies. He regarded psychiatrists as denying human spirituality and peddling fake cures.
Scientology's opposition to psychiatry has also undoubtedly been influenced by the fact that a number of psychiatrists have strongly spoken out against the Church, resulting in pressure from the media and governments. Additionally, after Hubbard's book on Dianetics was published, in which he tried to present a new form of psychotherapy, the American Psychological Association advised its members against using Hubbard's techniques with their patients until its effectiveness could be proven. Because of this critique Hubbard came to believe psychiatrists were behind a worldwide conspiracy to attack Scientology,
Celebrity Scientologists, notably Tom Cruise, have been extremely vocal in attacking the use of psychiatric medication. Their position has attracted considerable criticism from psychiatrists, physicians, and mental health patients and advocates who cite numerous scientific studies showing benefit from psychiatry. Nevertheless, this position is still defended and promoted by Scientologists.

Celebrity practitioners
The Church of Scientology has concentrated some of the efforts to convert artists and entertainers and has special recruitment facilities for public figures designated as Celebrity Centres. They can be found in Hollywood, New York, Nashville, Las Vegas, London, Paris, and Vienna, though Hollywood is the largest and most important. Scientologists give this description:
L. Ron Hubbard recognized the importance of the artist to society. Thus he created Celebrity Centre International a Church of Scientology that specializes in delivering Dianetics and Scientology services to celebrities, professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government.
Publicity has been generated by Scientologists in the entertainment industry such as John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Beck Hansen, Josh Pettersen, Chick Corea (pianist), Jason Lee, Tom Cruise and others. Cruise became known as an outspoken Scientologist in 2005, publicly criticizing Brooke Shields on national television for her use of anti-depressants in recovering from postpartum depression.