Spiritual Immortality
The Church of Scientology describes achieving the state of Operating Thetan as "complete spiritual freedom from the endless cycle of birth and death" and literally promises immortality:
"Some of the miracles of life have been exposed to full view for the first time ever on the OT levels. Not the least of these miracles is knowing immortality and freedom from the cycle of birth and death."
The "immortality" referred to is not immortality of the body, but of the thetan, and Scientology does not claim that it causes the thetan's immortality, but makes a Scientologist aware of that immortality and alleviates the distress that might otherwise be felt at the prospect of death:
"The subject of death is never a very serious one to a Scientologist beyond the fact that he feels kind of sorry for himself sometimes. ... was thoughtless enough to dispose of his body and go out of communication. A person sometimes feels pretty unhappy about it and thinks it's a thoughtless thing for a friend to do."
Read more about this topic: Supernatural Abilities In Scientology Doctrine
Famous quotes containing the words spiritual and/or immortality:
“So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
—Bible: New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15:42-45.
“How earthy old people become—mouldy as the grave! Their wisdom smacks of the earth. There is no foretaste of immortality in it. They remind me of earthworms and mole crickets.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)