SNIPPETS: Selfism & The Positive Mind By Marie-Laurence Ouzilleau

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Selfism & The Positive Mind is a religion that derives from the The Church of Scientology, the animistic spirituality of the Native population and also from the science of positive psychology. Be careful not to associate it with some type of me myself and I religion! It is a religion that promotes self-accomplishment and self-understanding through therapies of meditation that work with the acceptance of bad life experiences. Selfism is the new religion of the positive mind. It is mostly guided by the idea that "an awareness of the psychological strength can help people recover from psychological problems"(Seligman, 2002), and that harmony between all the dynamics of life is the key to happiness. In other word, in the following text you will discover the Selfism philosophy of positivity and how the adherent are working on themself in order to reach the ultimate goal of living the good and serene life.

Pic © The Church of Scientology

The main influence of Selfism comes from L.Ron Hubbard, the pioneer of the Church of Scientology. Scientology is seen as a "lifesaving new philosophy that freed the mind and the spirit", through a "technology that could erase painful experiences from one's past that were buried in the subconscious"(Reitman, 2013). To achieve this state of clear mind, people that are engaged in this science are putting themself through sessions of what they call dianetics. These sessions of auditing are the "process to recover the thetan power" (Reitman, 2013) in order to keep improving the condition of oneself and the community. "When humans become free of the reactive mind and reach the state of Clear, they become smarter, saner, more dynamic, and more alive” (Lewis, 2009). In the same way of thinking, selfists are working or their individual spiritual path, trying to reach the highest level of self-awareness.

The Great Spirit Pic © kc267267

Perhaps, the Great Spirit in which selfists believe live in every individual on this planet and this Spirit, as invisible as it is, provides the power and the strength necessary to treat and transform negativity of the human mind into positive thinking. The Great Spirit has neither personification nor specific symbol but believers are to choose a totem that will represent the wisdom of the Great Spirit, over which they will relate through the course of their lives. The Great Spirit is present in every human being's soul, it guides the selfist to the path that leads to the mind, and helps to clarify the thoughts in order to organize, analyze, and if necessary, neutralize and transform the bad energy. For the selfists, The Great Spirit is omnipresent, in every situation, action, thought, reflecting, understanding, comprehension and appreciation. It is in fact an "inner voice" upon which the selfist relates to.

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To communicate with the spirit inside of the soul, meditation sessions are crucial. During these sessions, the selfist is left with himself within is own emotions. The purpose of the meditation is to bring the selfist into his own subconscious, with the help of the Great Spirit that allows him to remain in that state of mind. In other words this powerful force keeps us "prisoners" in our mind until our conscious has reached the highest level of positivity possible. The Great Spirit trains the people to believe in their own capacities, to develop reachable goals and also provides resources to reach them.

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The meditation session does not end until the selfist brain has treated all the negativity accumulated during the day, and elaborated strategies to solve the problems that trouble the mind, and until all negative vibes are transformed into positivity so the individual has the complete control over his self. A minimum of two sessions are required in order to stay in touch with the Great Spirit and to maximize the benefits. One of the Selfism major concepts is that nothing is a failure, but a lesson instead; learning and growing from your own bad experiences. This institution mainly supports the self-achievement and improvement because it is strongly believed that "increasing one's quality of life to help others increase their level of happiness and life satisfaction" (Seligman, 2002). Selfism is motivated by the thought that we cannot change and improve the world unless we change and improve ourselves.

The second element that has a strong influence on the Selfism religion is the concept of positive psychology. The ultimate goal of Selfism is called the good life. "The good life must include relationship with other people and with the society as a whole" (Seligman 2002). According to Martin Seligman (2002), Janet Reitman (2013) and L.Ron. Hubbard (1994), a happy person is someone who has successful relations on all the dynamics of life. The dynamics are divided into eight categories of relationship. However, The Church of Selfism only focuses on six of these dynamics.

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The first one which is the most essential consists in having a good relationship with yourself. Being positive about the future, being confident in yourself, being in total control of your emotions and constantly surround yourself with good energy is the key to a healthy life. “People who experience and express positive emotions more often than those who do not are more likely to be satisfied with their lives, have more rewarding interpersonal relationships, be more productive and satisfied at their work, be more hopeful to other people and be more likely to reach desire goals in life” (Compton, Hottman,2013).

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The Church of Selfism also teaches the nature of negativity and how it allows a Human Being to understand and appreciate positivity. “The recognition of and expression of negative emotions are also vital to self-understanding and personal growth" (Sligman, 2002). Selfists are supporting plenty of outreach programs such as drug treatment program, criminal rehabilitation programs and the more important; they spend a lot of time helping the victims of different horrible crime and provide moral support to people facing the death of a love one. This involvement in the welfare of the community life is part of the second, third and fourth dynamic of life, which consists in nourishing the different relationships that are vital for the good life. Being in good term with your family, take care of your friends and love ones and support your community is one important concept promoted by the religion.

Pic © Gaia

The good life is lived when individual are “using their signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification” (Seligman, 2002). In order to be fully happy in life, the two last dynamics are as important. The trust in Mother Nature and in the life cycle is fundamental in this spirituality. Selfists have and demonstrate an enormous respect for the environment and are trying to avoid any action that could affect it in a bad way. The Church of Selfism ensures that every birth on the planet is part of the destiny and that every individual has a mission to accomplish on heart before to reach the other stage of life which can be seen as an afterlife in another dimension. Selfists will often talk about The Good Death as the next step after The Good Life. Thus, the afterlife is what is considered heaven in Christianity. Selfists just move another version of life in a different dimension, where they find their loved one that had accomplished their mission before them.  In Selfism, The Good Death isn’t a horrible thing, but a wonderful experience that everybody will encounter sooner or later.

Bibliography

Catton,W.R. (1996), From animistic to naturalistic sociology, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Compton, W.C, Hottman.E. (2013), Positive psychology: the science of happiness and flourishing, Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Durkheaim, E. (1961), The Elementary forms of the relegious life,  New York : Collier Books

Harrington, A. (2008), The cure within: a history of mind body medicine, New York: W.W.Norton.

Heintzman, R.R. (2011), Rediscovering references: The meaning of Faith in a secular world, Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Hubbard,L.R. (1994), The scientology handbook, Danemark: New Era Publications.

Hubbard,L.R. (1950), Dianetics: The modern science of mental health, New York: Hermitage House.

Kellehear, A. (2009), The study of Dying, Cambridge University Press.

Lewis,J.R. (2009), Scientology, New York: Oxford University Press.

Reitman, J. (2013), Inside Scientology: The story of America’s most secretive religion, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Santayana, G. (1940), The realm of spirit, New York: Charles Scribner’s sons.

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