Could be fun!?!?

Being an avid South Park watcher, tabloid follower and music listener, I've come across a lot of information about Scientology. Of course, South Park takes a total mockery of the entire religion, but when I read that Beck was a scientologist, I decided, with a little free time, to check out "the information" a little more.

I found their main website at www.scientology.org, and while I couldn't find anything on aliens like South Park might suggest, I did find some interesting things. The home page of the website outlines the religion clearly, in that the religion springs from 3 "truths":

Man is an immortal, spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized — and those capabilities can be 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.

In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.

Through Scientology, people all over the world are achieving the long-sought goal of true spiritual release and freedom.

While I can't attest to the third "truth" the first one summarizes the main problems that I have with some other religions *Christianity, I'm looking your way* by way of giving power back to the indiviual, instead of having to put all your faith in a higher power. The second "truth" is also kind of nice, because it just lays out that "life isn't going to be the same for everyone".

The second thing that I found interesting was "the Clear". It sounds to be a lot like Buddhist's Enlightenment: a state that can be achieved through realization of yourself, which gradually lets you deal with life more rationally. Through it, though, you also have to recognize that the body is nothing, and that the soul of an individual is all that matters in the big picture of life.

With the time I had, I didn't get to delve too deeply into the website, since there was a lot of information, but what I found was, strangely, intriguing.