ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Scientology beliefs and practices

Scientology is a religion that some people believe in. It was made up by a man named L. Ron Hubbard a long time ago. There are a lot of beliefs and practices that people who follow Scientology think are important.

One of the biggest beliefs of Scientology is that people have spirits that they call thetan. They think that thetans are the real part of people and that their body is just a tool that they use. They also believe that thetans have lived before and will live again after they die.

Scientologists think that the way to get rid of the bad things that have happened to you in your past lives is to talk about them with someone trained in Scientology. They call this process auditing. The person doing the auditing asks you questions and you answer them. You keep doing this until you have talked about everything that is bothering you.

Another practice of Scientology is something called the Bridge to Total Freedom. It's like a ladder that you have to climb to become a better person. There are many levels on this ladder, and you have to pay a lot of money to go up each level. Scientologists believe that if you reach the top, you'll have achieved "Total Freedom" and be a perfect, immortal being.

Overall, Scientology is a big and complicated religion that can be hard to understand. But the people who believe in it think it can help them become their best selves and be happier.