Editing L. Ron Hubbard (section)

==Sources and doctrines==
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| footer = Hubbard drew upon a diverse set of teachings to create his doctrine, incorporating elements from the psychoanalysis of [[Sigmund Freud]] (top) and the occult teachings of [[Aleister Crowley]] (bottom) among many other sources.
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Hubbard has been described as an "eclectic and ingenious" religious innovator who cobbled together ideas from a diverse array of sources and traditions.<ref>Urban (2012): "An eclectic and ingenious religious entrepreneur, Hubbard assembled a wide array of philosophical, occult, spiritual and science fiction elements, cobbling them together into a unique, new and surprisingly successful synthesis. In Hubbard's religious [[wikt:bricolage|bricolage]], occult elements drawn from Crowley were indeed one important element, but neither more nor less important than the many others drawn from pop psychology, Eastern religions, science fiction and a host of goods available in the 1950s spiritual marketplace."</ref> Hubbard explicitly cited Freud's psychoanalysis as a source for Dianetics and Scientology, renaming some terms.<ref>e.g. Freud's "unconscious mind" became Hubbard's "reactive mind".</ref><ref name="AtackOrigin"/> Hubbard's wife Sara recalled him discussing biologist [[Richard Semon]], who had coined the term "[[Engram (neuropsychology)#History|engram]]" which became [[Engram (Dianetics)|a centerpiece of Dianetics]].<ref name="AtackOrigin"/> Hubbard incorporated the 1920s psychoanalytic theory of [[The Trauma of Birth|birth trauma]] and taught his followers to maintain [[Silent birth|total silence during the birth process]].<ref>The first edition of Dianetics featured a dust jacket advertisement for psychoanalyst [[Nandor Fodor]]'s book on "the trauma of birth and pre-natal conditioning".</ref><ref name="AtackOrigin"/> Hubbard explicitly credited [[Social Darwinism]] pioneer [[Herbert Spencer]] who coined the phrase "[[survival of the fittest]]", and taught that the 'one command' given to all life is to "survive" and later authored a book called ''Science of Survival''.{{r|AtackOrigin}}

Hubbard cited author [[Alfred Korzybski]] as an influence; after two years observing patients at St. Elizabeth's psychiatric hospital in D.C. in collaboration with superintendent William Alanson White, Korzybski published a tome titled ''Science and Sanity'' outlining a doctrine he called "[[General semantics|General Semantics]]".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9M50DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|title=Among the Scientologists: History, Theology, and Praxis|first=Donald A.|last=Westbrook|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-066498-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref> After Korzybski founded an "Institute" to promote his teachings and began offering seminars, his ideas were incorporated into the science-fiction of Hubbard-associates [[A. E. van Vogt|Van Vogt]] and [[Robert Heinlein|Heinlein]], who envisioned futures where research into General Semantics had transformed some individuals into superhumans; Hubbard cited this fiction in a letter announcing the central principles of Dianetics: a book that promises to "make supermen".<ref name="OrtegaSupermen"/>

Through his exposure to both psychoanalysts and occultists, Hubbard drew inspiration from Eastern religions. Hubbard cited psychiatrist Joseph Thompson as teaching him the adage "If it's not true for you, it's not true", a [[Kalama Sutta|purportedly-Buddhist maxim]] which was later incorporated into Scientology.<ref>Wright: "One of Thompson's maxims was 'If it's not true for you, it's not true.' He told young Hubbard that the statement had come from Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha. It made an impression on Hubbard." (Wright 2013, p. 22)</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/laGfzYjotbs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190918171921/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laGfzYjotbs&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laGfzYjotbs| title = LRH Birthday event Hubbard talks about Snake Thompson | website=YouTube| date = September 9, 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Reincarnation, originally a [[dharmic]] doctrine, entered Western occultism through the works of Blavatsky and numerous others. Fifteen years after Blavatsky followers unveiled "[[The Bridge to Freedom]]", Hubbard announced "[[Bridge to Total Freedom|The Bridge to ''Total'' Freedom]]".

Hubbard's son Nibs said that Aleister Crowley was his father's most important source of inspiration, and scholar Hugh Urban has written extensively about the [[Scientology and the occult|occult roots of Scientology]].<ref>"Black magic is the inner core of Scientology" [[#penthouse|''Penthouse'' interview, 1983]].</ref> Nibs Hubbard said in an interview in 1983:{{r|penthouse}} {{blockquote|What a lot of people don't realize is that Scientology is black magic that is just spread out over a long time period. To perform black magic generally takes a few hours or, at most, a few weeks. But in Scientology it's stretched out over a lifetime, and so you don't see it.}} Like Crowley, Hubbard identified himself with diabolical figures from the Book of Revelation. Just as Aleister Crowley taught a soul could temporarily leave its body through [[astral projection]], Hubbard taught a thetan could journey outside the body by "going exterior".{{sfn|Urban|2012|p=107}}

Hubbard also taught extensively about hypnosis and recommended a 1949 book on the subject.<ref>Hypnotism Comes of Age (1949) by [[Bernard Wolfe]]</ref><ref name="AtackOrigin"/> Hubbard told of hypnotic [[Implant (Scientology)|implants]], privately teaching human religions are the product of such implants. The use of [[Past life regression|hypnosis or trance to remember past lives]] was an extant practice in occult circles prior to Dianetics.<ref>How We Remember Our Past Lives (1946)</ref> Hubbard incorporated a range of [[hypnosis|hypnotic]] techniques into Scientology auditing and courses.{{sfn|Hassan|Scheflin|2024|pp=759–761}} They are employed as a means to create [[Psychological dependence|dependency]] and [[Obedience (human behavior)|obedience]] in his followers.{{sfn|Hassan|Scheflin|2024|pp=759–761}} Crowley and Hubbard both placed emphasis on a Goddess figure, variously called [[Babalon]], Hathor, or Diana—a name Hubbard gave to a ship and a daughter; the term Dianetics may have been inspired by the Goddess.<ref name="AtackOccult"/> Crowley taught a sex magic ritual called karezza or [[Dianism]] which Hubbard is believed to have practiced.<ref name="AtackOccult">{{Cite web |url=https://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_occult.html |title=Hubbard and the Occult |first=Jon |last=Atack |author-link=Jon Atack |via=[[Karin Spaink|spaink.net]]}}</ref>

The e-meter was constructed by inventor Volney Mathison, who introduced it to Hubbard. Similar devices had been in use by psychiatrists and law enforcement for decades. Hubbard likened his own teachings about [[Helatrobus|interstellar empires]] and [[Marcab Confederacy|invader forces]] to the early 20th-century fiction genre [[Space Opera]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tonyortega.org/source-code-actual-things-l-ron-hubbard-said-on-this-date-in-history/|title = Source Code: Actual things L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history &#124; the Underground Bunker|quote=Now, all this sounds very Space Opera-ish and that sort of thing, and I'm sorry for it, but I am not one to quibble about the truth. }}</ref> Hubbard drew upon US Navy traditions in creating the Sea Org, and he once said the [[Commodore's Messenger Organization]] had been inspired by the [[Hitler Youth]].{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=323|loc="I once asked him why he chose young girls as messengers&nbsp;... He said it was an idea he had picked up from Nazi Germany. He said Hitler was a madman, but nevertheless a genius in his own right and the Nazi Youth was one of the smartest ideas he ever had. With young people you had a blank slate and you could write anything you wanted on it and it would be your writing. That was his idea, to take young people and mould them into little Hubbards. He said he had girls because women were more loyal than men."}}