Saturday, September 8, 2018

The previous lives of Scientologists




"Have you lived before this life?" is a book published in 1960 by the Scientologists. Although Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard is listed as the author, the bulk of the book consists of 41 purported cases of reincarnation as reported by Scientology "auditors". The Church of Scientology describes auditing as a religious ritual similar to Catholic confession, but in practice it's a form of quasi-hypnotherapy during which the patients often experience painful memories of unknown origins. Hubbard chose to interpret them as evidence of previous lives and hence reincarnation.

Many Hubbard-related books have a somewhat kookish reputation, and this one is no exception. Frankly, it's sillier than I expected. Many of the "preclears" (the patients or clients being audited) conjure up memories of past lives on other planets or in other galaxies. One claim to have lived 55 quintillion years ago, yet modern science tells us that the universe is only 14 billion years old. Another preclear believes that his soul spent 23 billion years riding on a meteorite! Some space civilizations are remarkably similar to our own, with everything from brothels to rampant homosexuality. Others are bizarre and dominated by robots. One preclear remembers a former life as a UFO pilot being attacked and eaten by alien manta rays, and a subsequent life as one of the manta rays. Apparently, alien queens on other planets have exotic pets (who can blame them?). One subject remembers being a cougar-like animal playing such a role...

Of course, claims such as these are *very* difficult to check. Unfortunately for true believers, other stories included in this book can be checked and found wanting. Highlights include a person who remembers a former life as a Roman soldier in North Africa during the 13th century BC (long before Rome even existed!), a man who was tortured by Christian monks in Greece around AD 54, and a person who experienced the destruction of Pompeii about 400 years too late. One of the most fanciful claims comes from a preclear whose spirit was supposedly trapped in an ancient lamp for 2,600 years.

If anything, this would count as evidence *against* reincarnation...

I think it's obvious that the subjects of auditing aren't really experiencing former lives, but rather a kind of subconscious psychodramas.

"Have you lived before this life?" may be of passing interest to those who spend their evenings reading cult literature as a pastime, but everyone else will find this book weird and even somewhat boring. Only one star.

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