 | The birth of Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was celebrated in 160 countries this year. |
The birth of Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was celebrated in 160 countries this year. With such wide membership and influence, the question has been raised "how is this annual event celebrated?"
The answer is as interesting as the life of the man himself, who was born in the Wild West frontier of America and set out at an early age to better understand and help people around him. The celebration is as one would expect: as non-traditional and non-dogmatic as the trails he traveled to achieve that objective as he journeyed around the world, looking into the "nooks and crannies of existence," studying twenty-one cultures, writing over 500 books and short stories and giving some 3,000 lectures.
The watershed moment for Mr. Hubbard on this path of research and discovery came in 1950, when he published the book, Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health, the first text ever written on the human mind and life that was at once comprehensive, workable and accessible to everyone. Released on May 9th, 1950, the work immediately topped the New York Times bestseller list, remained there for 26 weeks and gave rise to some 750 Dianetics groups within the first year of its publication. The book has since gone on to sell over 21 million copies internationally in over 70 languages.
Within weeks of its publication, people who had read this book were lined up on his lawn, demanding to find out more.
In the last chapter of the Dianetics book, Mr. Hubbard described his plans to "further research into life force," which led in 1952 to the birth of the Scientology religion, "The study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life."
Mr. Hubbard's research did, indeed, take him to even higher plateaus of awareness and new discoveries that would enable him to achieve the vision he described at the end of the first Dianetics book.
Those who attended this year's event were treated to a documentary of the early years of Dianetics, featuring interviews with some of the men and women who were there more than 50 years ago, working with Mr. Hubbard at the birth of the movement.
They also learned of the unprecedented expansion of the religion, including the purchase of nine new Scientology church buildings, scheduled to be renovated and opened over the coming year.
They cheered as the fastest expanding Scientology churches and missions in the world were acknowledged.
In an autobiographical essay called "My Only Defense for Having Lived," L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "The only tests of a life well lived are: Did he do what he intended? And were people glad he lived?" The crowds at the annual international celebration of L. Ron Hubbard's life, who credit Mr. Hubbard and his discoveries for their happiness and success, are testimony to his having passed these two tests.
Get a copy of the exclusive 1966 filmed interview, An Introduction to Scientology, digitally restored and released this year, in which Mr. Hubbard explains why he dedicated his life to this work and answers the most commonly asked questions about the Scientology religion.
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