Energy

When someone throws the word “energy” into the discussion, the topic of conversation could be any number of subjects. When it is applied to scientific disciplines and fields, it has an undeniable connection to life force. In the scientific realm, energy remains a mystery in the field of Physics. Within many religions, including Scientology, energy remains undefined, but has a clear role to play. Energy could be a word that we use to describe many different things, and with language, words like this often exist. Another possibility which is equally interesting is that we are talking about the same energy in each case. If this is true, then the seemingly opposing forces of science and religion might have a common link.

One of the central theories within the field of Physics is the conservation of energy. It could even be viewed as the cog that allows all of the other wheels to turn within the conceptual framework of our universe. The conservation of energy “states that there is a certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in the manifold changes which nature undergoes.” [Feynman, Richard: “Six Easy Pieces: Essential Physics explained by its most brilliant teacher” (69)]. In other words, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred or converted into another form of energy. This definition does not specify what energy is, instead, it explains one of the rules that energy follows. This is because energy is an acknowledged mystery. There are a few aspects of energy scientist have been able to nail down. Energy can be either the ability to perform work, or the final product of the work itself. Energy has multiple forms (gravitational, heat, kinetic, elastic, electrical, chemical, radiant, nuclear, and mass), and each form has its own formula. Since different calculations are needed with different forms of energy, it might seem odd that scientists are able to label each one as energy. This goes back to the most basic of rules: the conservation of energy. Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, it is the constant in the equation. Energy can take the form of chemical energy, the energy contained in molecules which we consume when we eat, or it can be electrical energy, which lights our houses. Scientist cannot debate that energy takes on several different forms. These forms play out in ways that can be so dissimilar that it would be difficult to identify the separate phenomena being grouped into the same category, and yet they are.

Many scientists would deny energy being so malleable that it could lend itself to religion. Certainly religions are free to utilize the word, but it could not be the same energy tested in their formulas. Amongst the scientific community, there have been interesting exceptions. Albert Einstein prided himself in seeing a Supreme Being factoring into his equations. Einstein explained his religious beliefs as “a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.” [Powell, Corey: “God in the Equation: How Einstein Transformed Religion.” (135)] Einstein used the theory of relativity to explain how human beings could not only learn about the universe of God, but also could learn about that universe as a reflection of who God is. Previously, scientists, such as Isaac Newton, had no explanation for phenomena such as this. Unexplainable occurrences were chalked up to the mystery of God. Einstein did not believe that it was meant to be God’s mystery. He spent his life producing formulas because he believed it brought him closer to God. For Einstein, everything that we can observe and deduce in our natural world is an expression of the divine. It became sacred for him to solve these mysteries because he thought that God had left these clues for mortals so that we might better understand our higher power. This places science in a fundamental position within religion, and vice versa.

Many Eastern religious traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, put a great deal of emphasis on both knowledge and energy. A central concept to both Hinduism and Buddhism is karma, or simply defined, action. Within Physics, an action is accomplished only with energy. Buddhists believe that an action, whether positive or negative, plants a seed within us. If it is a positive action, this might mean something positive is to come for the person in this life or the next. If it is a negative action, the opposite is believed to occur. Neither positive nor negative actions are the goal within Buddhism, because both result in reincarnation, or the person’s essence transferring to a new body in their next life. Reincarnation is not a desired outcome, it is considered in both religions as a source of suffering. One of the paths within Hinduism that allows a person to escape the cycle of rebirth is through gaining spiritual knowledge through meditation and study and withdrawing from all action, or energy.

Other religions also believe in reincarnation, but do not necessarily place it in the negative column. A form of reincarnation is central to Scientologists’ belief. L. Ron Hubbard, who was previously a science fiction writer, founded Scientology. The religion is based upon the precept that survival is central to the meaning of our existence. He believed that every human’s mind has two parts: the analytical mind (which is recognized by nearly everyone in the scientific community) and the reactive mind (the part of the mind that collects data and stores it within itself when a human is either unconscious or only partially conscious). The significance of the reactive mind for Hubbard was that if we became unconscious because of a negative action (for example, someone punches another person in the face) that all of the sensory and unsubstantial details that we collect in the reactive mind during that time (for example, the sound of running water in a bathroom) will become associated with that negative experience. He believed that a person would experience the negative event again on a subconscious level any time it was triggered. He named these subconscious negative associations engrams, and he believed that if he could target these engrams and neutralize their effects, he could cure all people of any neuroses, psychoses, or illness. As Hubbard developed his religion and gained followers, he recruited auditors to perform audits. The auditors were tasked with helping pre-Clears (people not yet clear of all of their engrams) target and neutralize the engrams through a machine he developed called the Electropsycho-meter, or E-meter for short. This machine worked by delivering a small electrical current through its electrodes into the pre-Clear. Hubbard believes that our mind’s thoughts contain mass and energy. The needle on the machine gives different responses based on the resistance of the electrical current, which the auditor reads. This would be an indicator of the person’s emotional state, and allow the auditor to decipher whether any engrams were present. Certain energy is read as negative energy, or charge. This is targeted. If there are engrams, the pre-Clear and the auditor talk about it at length until they are able to deactivate the trigger. Once all engrams are gone, the person becomes a Clear. At this point, a Clear’s mission within the religion changes. Hubbard believes that humans aren’t a mind or a body. We are a spirit, or energy. He termed this “thetan.” He believed that the thetan have been around for millions of years and have lived in many different bodies (which is why this religion has reincarnation components). Thetans created the MEST (Mass, energy, space and time) universe, but somehow became stuck here. Then, the thetans forgot about creating the place entirely. As a member of the Church of Scientology, it becomes a person’s task to reach a place where they can try to remember the past lives of their thetan while simultaneously becoming one with the universe and the Supreme Being, which Scientologists refer to as infinity.

Energy clearly plays a significant role in a lot of unexpected places. The energy within Scientology sits next to terms we would easily find in a Physics textbook: mass, space, and time. This is how Scientology describes our universe. At the same time, its concepts are undeniably linked to the East, especially with the notion of reincarnation. None of this information wraps our universe into a neat little bow, but it should raise some important questions, none of which have definite answers. Whether or not there is a link between the energy believed to be bestowed upon humans by a higher power and the energy that runs our everyday lives remains to be seen. We might consider the possibility, as Einstein suggested, that we all see the same light.