Bodies age. They are born, they grow, survive, begin to decay, and die. But when death comes to the body, that does not mean the end of the spirit. The person, the thetan, lives on, liberated from the body, ready to begin a new life.
This does not mean that aging is always easy. It does not deny or overlook the hardships that can be involved. But when aging presents challenges to be endured, Scientologists are comforted in the knowledge that aging is a chapter most germane to the body, not the spirit. When the body has completed its tenure, the person, the thetan, lives on. I'd vaguely suspected as much prior to my involvement in Scientology but with Scientology I now have that experiential as well as conceptual knowledge that when my body is done, I will continue.
This belief in the continuation of life is baked into the way Scientologists view the world and is reflected in the words of the Scientology funeral service written by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard:
Our loss
Is gain in other times….
(He/she)'ll be in some good
Future time
And future place
(His/her) smile
(His/her) touch
(His/her) skill
Invested there to make
A way for life….
Our loss
Is gain
In wisdom and skill
To future dates and other smiles
And so we send into the
Chain of all enduring time
Our heritage
Our hope
Our friend.
So, when I see discussions about aging and even death begin to turn to contemplations about life, I am heartened, seeing in that natural pivot a reflection of the underlying truth that the spirit does not die.
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