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In Scientology, the concept of the thetan (ˈθeɪtən) is similar to the concept of self, or the spirit or soul as found in several belief systems. The term is derived from the Greek letter Θ, theta, which in Scientology beliefs represents "the source of life, or life itself." In Scientology it is believed that it is the thetan, not the central nervous system, which commands the body. Thetan has been described as: A "thetan is an immortal spiritual being; the human soul." "The being who is the individual and who handles and lives in the body." "A thetan is not a thing, a thetan is the creator of things." A thetan is "the person himself—not his body or his name, the physical universe, his mind, or anything else; that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual." The concept for the thetan was first described in the early 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, drawing on reports by Dianetics practitioners, who in session found clients came up with descriptions of past-life experiences. A thetan can be incarnated many times over lifetimes and does not cease to exist at body-death, nor go to a heaven or hell. An important goal in Scientology is to develop a greater awareness and higher levels of ability to operate in the physical universe as an Operating Thetan. The term and concept were defined by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who adopted the Greek letter theta (Θ) to represent "the source of life and life itself". Hubbard first introduced his ideas of "theta-beings" in a lecture series of March 1952. He attributed the coining of the word to his wife Mary Sue. As an essential point of Scientology doctrine, a person's sense of identity and self-awareness stem entirely from the "thetan". It is redundant to refer to "a person's thetan", because the person does not exist independently. Hubbard once defined a thetan as: "... having no mass, no wave-length, no energy, no measurable qualities and no time or location in space except by consideration or postulate. The spirit is not a thing. It is the creator of things.

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Related concepts (7)

Scientology

Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called Dianetics, which he represented as a form of therapy. An organization that he established in 1950 to promote it went bankrupt, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book Dianetics in 1952. He then recharacterized his ideas as a religion, likely for tax purposes, and renamed them Scientology.

Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The movement has been the subject of a number of controversies, and the Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgements as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business.

Thetan