Customer Reviews

Scientology: A New Slant on Life (English)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was one of the first books I read on the subject of Scientology, along with Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought (English), they both gave me enought information on the subject of Scientology, to determine it a something worth devoting my life to studying.

Several Topics Include:

*Is It Possible to Be Happy?

*Man's Search for His Soul

*Two Rules for Happy Living

*Happiness and Interest

*How to Live with Children

*On Marriage

*The Anatomy of Failure

*Confronting

*Professionalism

*Past, Present and Future

*Playing the Game

*Records of the Mind Are Permanent

*The Race Against Man's Savage Instincts

*Justice

*What Is Knowledge?

*Man from Mud

*The Psychiatrist at Work

*Honest People Have Rights, Too

*What Is Greatness?

I would suggest this book to anyone who wants a peak inside the Scientology philosophy.

The new slant on life is one of my favorite books by Mr.Hubbard.
It has such a pleasantly inspiring way of explaining the simple
truths that make life worth living. If I am feeling out of sorts
I start reading this book and in no time at all I am feeling good
again.

I recommend you read this book and keep it by your bedside to pick
up frequently. The more I read it the more I like it. Few books
are like this. One's that are become classics to be handed down
the generations. Our children need this information. Don't miss
out on the beautiful wisdom shared by one of this century's most
admired humanitarians.

This book was really easy to read and made so much sense. It gave me such basic tools to living a happy life. After reading it, I have found I am a lot less grumpy and can handle annoying situations a lot better. It has definitely given me a New Slant on Life.

This is one of my favorite Scientology books. It takes many basic Scientology concepts and gives you a brief overview that is very easy to grasp. It is an excellent 1st non-fiction book by L Ron Hubbard.

One of my favorite spiritual books. If you want to know what L Ron Hubbard was really about, this is a great book to get. It is beautiful.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is simple but powerful information. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I'm the kind of person who takes from different religions, theories, and just think we all are trying to be the best people that we can be. So, I grabbed this book for the basics of Scientology...it is a great book. Non-religious and gave me just another tweek on how life can be looked at.

Sometimes I think, "Gosh, I wish life came with instructions." I get lost sometimes, this will be a book that I will reach for and read to remember and realign. I highly recommend it.

This is the first title that I have read on the subject of Scientology, and with that I feel, at least in reference to this title, it is safe to say that it is innocuous. The general societal perspective of Scientology is not very cordial. Prior to this reading endeavor I was under the impression that Scientology was just some fanatical cult based on ignorance embellished by the intellectually destitute. After this read I personally feel that the societal denigration of this spiritual path is not congruous at all. I will also profess that I think the issue is not that the philosophy of Scientology is devoid and insolvent of any form of sane application; but, wherein lies the quandary is between the fanatical bigots on both sides of the paradigm: the fanatics who distort it to justify it and the fanatics who distort it to repudiate it. Did L. Ron Hubbard want to control the minds of man? No. Did he think he was the reincarnation of Jesus, or a God? No. As he said himself in this book, basically, he is a man that had a philosophy of life and death and wrote about it. If one would take an intellectual approach to analyzing religion in general you will find that there are many fanatics of the two paradigms-of which I alluded to previously-in ALL religious paths. In order to find the truth you must research it for yourself, do not go along with the reportorial ignorance that fanatical bigots of the opposing paradigms offer. If you do that is merely intellectually disingenuous.

There was one thing that I emphatically appreciated with much fervor, and it also rendered much respect for Hubbard in the initial chapters of the book; it was the fact that Hubbard stressed to the reader to research independently the information provided. He also admonished to not allow oneself to be informed on any of the subjects alluded to solely by his thinking and ideology. Especially, if you are in disbelief. Also, to grade it and analyze it against knowledge that you have independently procured. This way you arrive at your opinion of his work by your own intellect and judgment and not that of the societal perspective.

From many critics of Hubbard's work I have read those who say that a scientific principle cannot be implicated to the subjects in which Hubbard addresses. With that I disagree, because every scientific principle starts off as a hypothesis. Then throughout experimentation the hypothesis is proven, disproven or even slightly altered by the manifested datum. Society in general, I feel, has become so dissolute and dissuaded from spirituality (not religion) that I would not expect the masses to appeal to the thought that spirituality and science has already converged, or will converge. If I must, for argument's sake, find a coin to define the principles of Scientology that is inextricable regardless of position upon the subject it would be that they are merely heuristic. In the end the only datum that you have that proves if it is congruous or incongruous is your own visceral feelings, these will obviously be diverse.

To attempt to obviate an elongated and soporific review I will try to briefly cover only a few of the subjects in which I disagreed with and agreed with:

Disagreements:

- It disturbs me that this book did not have references, endnotes or a bibliography regarding some of the more factorial information given. Regardless, if Hubbard addressed this as being something one should research independently I feel that there should have been some conventional references. This possibly could be the reason some find his work devoid of any credibility. Is alleviation of these references pragmatic, or expectable? I believe it is not when dealing with subjects (science, spirituality, psychology and/or sociology) that can be very divisive.

- The book can be a difficult read, not meaning intellectually convoluted, but due to its expedited sojourn on each subject. Not to mention the way in which Hubbard writes, in fragmented paragraphs.

- The chapter on child rearing needed further elaboration on what TO DO. Hubbard spent so much time on what not to do, his intentions should have been justified on advice by what to do in exact tone and reference. I feel that a lot of what he wrote about in this section of the book was definitely ambiguous, if not down right enigmatic.

- I disagree with Hubbard lumping twenty percent of the population that is anti-social which is carried by the eighty percent who are social. With his definitions of each tendency, those being anti-social and social, I do not contend. It is merely him identifying that all people who have social tendencies (by his definition) is a positive influence for society, and those with anti-social tendencies are a negative influence on society. There are indeed those individuals that fit the bill of his definitions of each tendency that are on the opposing end of his presented paradigms of influence.

Agreements:

- Science and spirituality has long ago converged, but it is the bigots on both sides that contend that it has indeed not. Quantum physics is one of these manifested convergences, ironically for the religious ascetics and the non-spiritual individuals they will/do not see it. That subject in itself would need a book of its own to provide the suggestive evidence in extent of making a fairly represented case.

- Being a political conservative (liberal on some social aspects) I do indeed find resonance with the subjects of "freedoms and barriers". In society we cannot live in complete anarchy, we have proven throughout history that we cannot live without judicial structure. We have even proven that some of us are still not yet deterred by the existence of said structure.

- Problems are good! Issues, enigmas and quandaries are intrinsic to development and expansion of intellect and ethics. This is not in the book, but I have often said that heaven would be a very boring place. With the existence of only happiness and all encompassing serenity we would never grow or prosper. It is from our enigmas that we grow and expand. Solidarity is not intriguing by any means of the term. For this I reference the Taoist concept of Yin & Yang.

Overall I did indeed find a lot that was resonant with my own ideologies of moral behavioral standards and the moral declivity of society. There were very few items that were completely odious to me, which I addressed all of those. I will give an admonition of recommendation for this book if you are one who would like to learn more about Scientology. Remember to avoid the dissension that has been erected around this subject and obtain your own opinion by and from your own research. The subjects in this book that are covered are too numerous in existence to individually identify in context, and would only make reading this review exponentially more arduous.