Scientology, which means "knowing how to know," is a religion based on the works of L Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). The first church was established In Los Angeles in 1954, and today there are more than 4,300 Scientology churches, missions and groups around the world.

The Scientology religion teaches that a person is an immortal spiritual being (called in Scientology a "thetan" from the Greek letter "theta," meaning "spirit"), who has a body and a mind and lives on from lifetime to lifetime. Scientologists believe that the "reactive mind" (that portion of the mind that works on a totally stimulus-response basis, not under the volitional control of the Individual) exerts force and the power of command over one's awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and action. Through spiritual counselling called "auditing," Scientologists reduce and ultimately erase the power of the reactive mind. The reactive mind is of no benefit to the Individual and is a source of irrationality, fears and nightmares. Its eradication achieves the State of Clear and brings to view the individual himself and is a landmark step in the full discovery of one's true nature and in ultimately achieving full spiritual awareness and freedom.