The History of the
Church of Scio-BuddhismScio-Buddhism is truly the Universal Religion of the Cosmos. What follows is merely a brief history of its discovery on Earth. I am the Founder of the Church of Scio-Buddhism, which was discovered during the development of Scionics Philosophy – but who I am does not matter. I am aware that children often become “ego extensions” of their parents, and as the naturally proud “parent” of what I consider to be my extraordinarily valuable intellectual “offspring,” Scio-Buddhism and Scionics, I wish to avoid this danger to my own ego. The day may come when I do choose to reveal myself, but for now I find it sufficient to watch their growth and and to gently influence their development – when necessary – from behind the scenes. I also recognize that much of the information revealed Scionics and Scio-Buddhism directly contradicts and exposes the false mysticisms inherent in much of religion, government, and society in general. To reveal myself would be to put myself at risk of becoming a target of those who might view me as a threat to their belief systems or power structures. This does not preclude me, however, from describing in general terms how Scionics Philosophy and Scio-Buddhism came to be. Like most people, I was raised within the framework of a traditional religious belief system, and was taught to accept any number of non-reality based ideas as true, long before I had acquired the degree of reality-based knowledge of the world to necessary for the critical, reality-based evaluation of such ideas. My concept of “good” or “bad” as a young child was essentially that it was God who decided what was good or bad, and that one had better obey his morality because He would dispense either eternal reward or eternal punishment in the afterlife. I was taught that “faith” was a virtue and that “doubt” was a sin, and that disbelief in God could result in eternal punishment. All of this served, to some degree, as a psychological means for keeping my thinking from straying too far from what I was being taught. Despite this, however, I could not help having some natural and honest questions about the many internal logical inconsistencies I perceived in these teachings. I was taught that God knows all things, that God could do all things, and that He loves us all, and yet was also taught that He created Hell and would send those who didn't obey Him to suffer there in all eternity. Even as a very young child, I innocently wondered: If God knows all things, then He already knows who will and who will not obey Him. Why then, would He make those people that He knows (in advance) will not obey His will, knowing that he is essentially creating them just for them to ultimately suffer for all eternity? Why not just make “good” people, those that He knows will obey of their own free will, and just create them in Heaven to begin with, so that they could avoid the inevitable pains which all on Earth must endure, at least occasionally? I could go on and on with this list – and I am pretty sure you could too, if your mind has not been irreversibly destroyed by religious nonsense. In my case, as time went by and my thinking matured, the list of questions and doubts grew. This, coupled with my innate interest in science and exposure to scientific explanations for various aspects of reality, increasingly distanced my world-view from that which I had been taught. In the process, I began to slowly divest myself of various parts of the religion I was taught which plainly violated consistency with logic or reality, while striving to continue to accept or reconcile my remaining religious beliefs with the established facts of science. It took years, but I eventually came to the point where I knew I could no longer maintain a belief in things which completely contradicted the laws of logic and the facts of the real world. I eventually came to know with certainty what I had previously only suspected: that the vast majority of established religions are designed, either consciously or unconsciously, as a means for psychologically controlling their believers – and when one's mind is controlled by another, so are one's actions. Such religions were not a path to “heaven” at all, but merely a vehicle for the worldly power of its leaders, and a psychological tool for the control of people. I became an atheist. As a new atheist, I found myself with a serious philosophical, psychological and moral dilemma. Before, I had at least some concept of a God, and of divine reward or punishment, as a guide for my actions. This had provided me with at least some form of “moral compass,” albeit one which was largely artificial and mystical, and thus often counter to reality and reason. In the absence of even this inferior sort of ethical or moral guidance, and lacking anything concrete with which to replace it, I became self-destructive and essentially out-of-control. I consider myself lucky not to have died or gone to prison during that period. I knew it was not healthy or productive for me to continue to live in this way, but I also knew that while I could no longer accept mysticism as a substitute for reality-based life-guidance, there didn't seem to be any sort of all-encompassing system for living of the type I was looking for which was truly based in reality. The lead me to begin to apply the same intense focus that I had previously brought to the study of science to the further study of philosophy, psychology, and any other fields of inquiry which might help me to identify a moral system or approach to living which was truly based in reality and logic. I had no idea that this was to become a multi-decade quest, which would ultimately lead to the creation of Scionics Philosophy and the discovery of Scio-Buddhism. I began the development of Scionics Philosophy – even before I had applied the name “Scionics” to it – with the simple recognition that everyone desires happiness (however “happiness” may be defined) and that one's methods for seeking happiness are largely determined by one's understanding of reality. I further recognized that, if one's understanding of the world is based in reality, then one's methods for seeking happiness are likely to be effective, whereas if one's understanding of the world is based in non-reality and illogic, then one's methods for seeking happiness are likely to be ineffective. During the research and investigation necessary for the development of Scionics, it was critical that mystical ideas and concepts be identified and distinguished from reality-based ideas and concepts. As might be expected, the myriad religions of the world (both those practiced today and those which were practiced in the past) were found to contain enormous amounts of mysticism. There is one, however, which was found to have a fundamental core of beliefs which is free of mysticism, is compatible with philosophical naturalism in general (rather than anything supernatural) and Scionics in particular. This “religion,” in fact, is actually held by some as not being a religion in the usual sense of the word (for example, there is no “divine creator,” and morality is not based on divine commandment but upon suffering and its alleviation) but instead is considered to be a philosophy or simply an approach to living. This religion-which-is-not-a-religion is Buddhism. Thus Scio-Buddhism was discovered, as an application of Scionics Philosophy. Although the Doctrinal Statement of the Church of Scio-Buddhism is pages long, we have only One Sacred Law: “LIVE AND LET LIVE!” Those who wish to become Scio-Buddhists must only pledge to live by the One Sacred Law; this is the only requirement for membership in the Church. To be ordained, one must pledge to “LIVE AND LET LIVE,” and one must additionally pledge that one accepts the validity of Science and recognizes that Faith and Philosophy must be consistent with scientific knowledge. It is my sincere hope that Scionics and Scio-Buddhism will be a powerful catalyst for human happiness and harmony, today and long into the future. LIVE AND LET LIVE!
The Founder of the Church of Scio-Buddhism |
