Have You Lived Before This Life
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Have You Lived Before This Life is a Scientology / Dianetics book published by L. Ron Hubbard in 1960.
It purports to be a collection of "forty-one actual case histories" of reincarnation and past-life experiences, gleaned from auditing with an e-meter at the Church of Scientology's "Fifth London Advanced Clinical Course" held in 1958. [1]
Scientology's official website says of the book: "The major portion of the book is devoted to the auditing case histories of individuals, detailing their memories of past lives. These case histories graphically show how a person’s attitudes and actions in present time can be affected by incidents in his or her past lifetimes. They also document the improvements that occurred when such incidents were addressed and run out in auditing." Their promotional text for the book also goes on to note that the book answers important questions such as:
The book has been consistently in print since its initial release, and is currently offered for sale today by Scientology's Bridge Publications. Later editions added the proper question mark missing from its title in the original printings.
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[edit] Criticism
Journalist Paulette Cooper, in her review of the book, commented:
"The preface of this book also contains the names and addresses of the people who took part in the experiment so that the cynical could check its facts. The names listed, however, were not those of the preclear who had relived the experience, but those of the auditor who elicited the stories from them -- and all auditors are advanced, dedicated and believing Scientologists."
And also:
"Most of the Scientologists who relived their past lives believed that they had once been plain people, or very often space people, and for plots, their histories read like a type of science-fiction sadomasochism. Many of the preclears believed that they had lived on other planets ... One preclear remembered that when he was in another life and was five years old he was "already on the lookout for brothels," by fourteen or fifteen had learned all about "sex and homosexuals," and by sixteen had killed his father, baby, and captain, breaking up the body of the last, before finally being taken away to the "Zap machine" where he was decapitated and his arms and body placed in a space coffin." [3]
(Cooper was later targeted by the Church of Scientology in a failed harassment and framing campaign called Operation Freakout.)
[edit] Unpublished sequel
Hubbard, who was extremely enthusiastic about the project, announced a sequel called Where Were You Buried? was in the works. He instructed his auditors to check all preclears for recent deaths, and then to physically locate their place of burial. The book was never released. (Ability, Number 114)
[edit] Proper title
Some editions of the book have a question mark in the title, but most, including the first printing, do not. Adding to the confusion, some editions use the question mark on the dust jacket but not on the book itself.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- The Scandal of Scientology, Paulette Cooper.
- Ability (Scientology newsletter) number 114.
