On Dianetics and Tangerines

I was just given a book on Dianetics, or rather I should say THE book on Dianetics by the famous or infamous L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology fame. I have never really known what to think about the man, the philosophy, the religion that has sprung from it, the press that the Church of Scientology has received, the many reading rooms I have seen around the world... but at least I will be able to read it and react to the underlying "theory" as written by the original author.

It is easier to be skeptical in life than it is to be open to new ideas, especially if they question what we "know", or if they are a long stretch from the ideas we already hold and which we use to construct our own realities. While many people mention 'faith' as a necessary first step towards spirituality, or religiosity, I think faith might be a cop out for many in the sense that it means that you believe in something that you haven't taken the time to figure out. While being open to new ideas is part of what someone like Krishnamurti could have termed 'walking your own path to understanding'. In my mind, this is a more laudable approach than taking a prepackaged religion, no matter how well it has been packaged. Maybe it is no coincidence that faith is often referred to as 'blind' (not just love, an interesting ellipse to my last post).

I don't know what I will find, but I do know that many people have found profound wisdom in Scientology, and as such it is worth looking into. Others have expressed serious doubts and concerns, and this too is worth looking into and understanding. Is it just fear of 'different' ideas or legitimate concerns with the underlying principles? As I read on about Dianetics I also hope to look into some of the more seriously-expressed critiques so as to understand both sides better.
If I do manage to figure anything out worth sharing I will post it here.

On a different subject altogether, I have started reading Peace is Every Step, a book by Thich Nhat Hahn (Amazon link here). Simple messages, powerful ideas. One small anecdote, he tells the story of how children were taught to truly examine a tangerine, the look, feel, weight, the squirt of the peel when it was peeled, to imagine the seed, the tree, the sun, water and earth that went into it... all before taking a first bite. They were given a giant lesson in appreciation. Think about it before your next bite of anything... and it seems that Thich does and is a more content person for it.

Which makes me think that a future post should discuss the difference between Happiness (what we have been taught to want but is probably not sustainable) and Contentment (which is not often discussed, and probably arises from the saintly-feeling of gratitude, and is probably truly sustainable)...

PS I am on vacation so the posts are a bit more spaced out. I hope to be more regular starting in March.