Here's what L. Ron Hubbard says about Affinity in the Clearing Success Congress

"Affinity, Reality and Communication are the necessary components to an understanding of all Life and one's relationship to the Universe. Only when one has achieved complete ARC with all things can one truly understand the Creator and one's relationship to God."

But LRH doesn't just leave it there (the way Plato did when he said you had to acheive the Ideal in order to understand life - but there was no bridge from where you are now to accomplishing the Ideal state).

Having discovered how important communication is, he then researched and codified how to improve communication.

Did you know that you can take a basic course in communication at any Scientology church, mission or group - even at the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Cavalcade

And the course is really brilliant! So simple and so effective.

I love introducing people to Dianetics.

I was REALLY not doing well in life at the time, and my best friend's brother, who was a Scientologist, gave me his copy of the Dianetics book.

He told me a bit about it, and I almost didn't read the book. I knew life was so much more complicated than he was telling me.

But I liked the guy, and he was so sure, I figured what harm would it do to read the book. I didn't really expect much from it.

Boy was I wrong.

This one simple book - even just the first 100 pages or so -- answered SO many questions for me!

And, amazing as it may sound, the more I study it the more simple life gets.

And the more fun, too.

Where many religions are once-a-week affairs, Scientology is an every day thing - and throughout the day.

Here's a comparison. Can you remember what it used to be like before you could read? And do you remember when you were suddenly able to read?

Once you can read, it's a tool you use constantly, all day long every day. Imagine what your life would be like if you couldn't learn or exchange information from the written word.

Well, once you learn some basic Scientology tools it becomes a part of your life. Your ability is so much greater because of it.

It's priceless.

I think spirituality is simply a matter of being certain of yourself as a being, and being in good communication with others, recognizing that they too are immortal spiritual beings.

On the web site of the Religious Technology Center one of the aspects of Scientology that is described is that one is an "immortal spiritual being, the individual himself, not his body or mind or anything else. It is not something he has, but what he is."

When I actually got that concept it really changed my life. It made it so much easier for me to step back and look at things and not take things quite so personally. It also helped me gain more self-confidence and self-respect.

The Scientology religion is so practical, but it is also the most spiritual practice I have even encountered.

It is based on the premise that the individual is an imortal being who lives more than one life.

Prejudice based on race, religion, sex, age, etc. are ludicrous in that light.

As a friend of mine once told me, discrimination based on the kind of body one has is as silly as condemning someone because of the color of their clothes or the kind of car they drive.

Freedom Magazine has created a web site to deal with human rights abuses in France, and one thing it mentions is that David Miscavige, the Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, is a human rights advocate. I'd say that's a complete understatement. In addition to Mr. Miscavige's tremendous support for the human rights campaign that the Church of Scientology International is carrying out, his work to make the Scientology technology, which literally saves lives, available to anyone wishing to benefit from it is unequaled.

Using the ARC triangle you can pretty much establish communication with anyone who is aware enough to carry on a conversation.

There's a big difference between conversation and real communication, by the way.

Have you ever carried on a conversation with someone and left feeling completely unsatisfied and as though they really didn't understand you or what you were trying to say? That's not communication.

A few years ago I was flying out of Las Vegas on a business trip. Standing on line waiting to board the plane I heard a guy talking to he secretary over his cell phone. He was describing how he and his buddy called in sick that day and flew to Las Vegas to have some fun. He stood up his client, telling him he had a flat tire (the guy was an insurance salesman, I think), and he blew $1000 bucks gambling. He was telling his secretary what to say if his wife called and asked where he'd been.

My "crystal ball" told me that a year or two down the line there would be no wife. Because living like this with this level of dishonesty will destroy a relationship.

So being a Scientology Volunteer Minister, I decided to do something about this, and I told him I'd overheard what he said. I asked him if his marriage was important to him -- did he want to stay married or didn't it matter to him. He was surprised that I'd ask him this, but he told me that yes, he really loved his wife.

I shared with him my experience patching up wrecked marriages that started on the downward road with just this kind of "minor" (to him) dishonesty.

I don't know if he took my advice or got his act together. I hope he did. I think there are far too many broken homes that could easily be handled with a bit of Scientology technology.

The chapter on "Marriage" in the Scientology handbook is well worth reading. An excerpt from this is online the Scientology handbook site.

David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center refers to the messes we make of our lives in a speech her gave a couple of years that is referred to as "This is Scientology." Mr. Miscavige calls this a "Code Orange."

Mr. Miscavige says, "What about the terror alerts that are a part of everyday existence? The upsets at home that are so common it’s considered part of the daily grind called life? That’s a Code Orange taking place in millions of households every day. Or what about raising a child today? If it’s not the drugs, then it’s the all too common worry that they’ll actually get an education. That’s the real terror alert and it’s at Code Red."

Scientology churches, like the Church of Scientology of New York or the Church of Scientology of San Francisco (or any other church, really) are open seven days a week and are there to help the community with just this kind of problem (or anything else a person may need help sorting out). If you need help, take advantage of the offer.

In the Scientology religion August is the month that marks two anniversaries - the founding of Celebrity Centre International, which is celebrated with a gala every year at in Hollywood at the church. Two years ago David Miscavige presented the now-famous speech titled This is Scientology at the Celebrity Centre gala celebration.

The other special day for Scientologists this month is August 12th, the anniversary of the Sea Organziation, described in What is Scientology as "a fraternal religious order..." whose members "occupy the most essential and trusted positions in the senior churches in the Scientology ecclesiastical hierarchy."