The Eighth Dynamic

Definition of god

1 capitalized : the supreme or ultimate reality: such as
a : the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe
b Christian Science : the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite Mind
—Miriam-Webster.com

Scientology definition of Thetan

“The thetan is the source of all creation and life itself. It becomes fully apparent for the first time in Man’s experience that the spirit is immortal and possessed of capabilities well in excess of those hitherto predicted.” -from Scientology.org

“First there is the body itself. The body is the organized physical composition or substance of Man, whether living or dead. It is not the being himself.
Next, there is the mind, which consists essentially of pictures.
Finally, and most importantly, there is the thetan. The thetan is not a thing. It is the creator of things.”
—Scientology.org

Scientology used to claim it was:

“thus a religion in the most traditional sense of the term. Scientology helps Man become more aware of his own spiritual nature and that of those around him, and, hence, more aware of God.
Scientology carries forward a religious tradition extending ten thousand years and embraces truths found in the oldest sacred texts of the Hindu Veda and the wisdom of Buddhism.
Scientology holds in common with all great religions the dream of peace on Earth and salvation for Man. What is new about Scientology is that it offers a precise path for bringing about spiritual improvement in the here and now and a way to accomplish it with absolute certainty.”

In spite of claims to the contrary, Scientology began existence as Dianetics, a “science of the mind”. Filled with unproven research, rambling techno babble and bogus science, the author clearly stated that this new way was not a religion.
After the initial interest began to wane, Hubbard began looking into a way to revive it, turn it into a money making corporation and have it protected from close scrutiny by the government.
And so The Church of Scientology was born.
But one cannot simply walk into the IRS office and announce it is a religion, there needs to BE religion of some sort first.
One needs a spirituality, some sort of Belief system that the members can hold in common.
To this end Scientology developed a pseudo doctrine known as The Eight Dynamics.
Scientology is master of double speak. The long, convoluted explanations and contradictory statements leave one mired in confusion to the point where one is just as happy to give up and give in rather than try and untangle the knotted mess. Even in verbal debate, the Scientologist is taught to twist and deflect so as to avoid the issue at hand. No valid question is answered, rather the Scientologist begins turning the conversation back on the questioner until, frustrated and blocked he gives up.

So confusing is the so called spiritual beliefs of Scientology that not even their own members are clear on what they believe.
During a conversation with one Scientologist, she stated that she did not believe in God and had no spiritual beliefs. She insisted that Scientology had spiritual beliefs, but she did not have any. When pressed she became increasingly defensive and frustrated and said that her questioner should look up the definition of “Spiritual” and to familiarize himself with the Eight Dynamics.
Of the eight, it is the last two that, taken together, truly put paid to the impression of any true religion.

“The Seventh Dynamic is the SPIRITUAL DYNAMIC.

“This is the urge to survive as spiritual beings or the urge for life itself to survive. Anything spiritual, with or without identity, would come under the heading of the Seventh Dynamic. It includes one’s beingness, the ability to create, the ability to cause survival or to survive, the ability to destroy or pretend to be destroyed. A subheading of this dynamic is ideas and concepts and the desire to survive through these. The Seventh Dynamic is life source. This is separate from the physical universe and is the source of life itself. Thus, there is an effort for the survival of life source.”

The Seventh Dynamic, by definition then is the Thetan. Scientology claims that the Thetan is “the source of all creation and life itself”. The Seventh Dynamic states it is the urge to survive as spiritual beings. As Scientology separates the body from the Thetan and asserts that the Seventh Dynamic is separate from the physical universe, that leaves, per definition the life source or the Thetan.

The Eighth Dynamic is the urge toward existence as INFINITY.

“The Eighth Dynamic also is commonly called God, the Supreme Being or Creator, but it is correctly defined as infinity. It actually embraces the allness of all. (Author’s note; God is referred to as The Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End.)
That is why, according to L. Ron Hubbard, ‘when the Seventh Dynamic is reached in its entirety, one will only then discover the true Eighth Dynamic.’”-From Scientology’s website

The Seventh Dynamic is the urge for the Thetan to continue, to survive. One postulates that this refers to becoming an Operating Thetan which then has the ability to “go exterior” or to leave the MEST body at will and to manipulate the physical world purely with the super powers of the Thetan or “possessed of capabilities well in excess of those hitherto predicted.” — Scientology.org

“The mind accumulates recordings of thoughts, conclusions, decisions, observations and perceptions of a thetan throughout its existence. The thetan uses its mind in the handling of life and the physical universe. The body (including the brain) is the thetan’s communication center. It is a physical object, not the being itself.” – Scientology.org

Based upon the definition, the 8th dynamic is in fact the Thetan. Not any Supreme Being or God outside of the individual. It is the “source of all creation and life itself.”
It has already been established that Scientology considers the Thetan “The Creator” and that it is immortal, which indicates infinite existence.
The explanation given is that once one achieves the Seventh Dynamic, the urge to survive as spiritual beings or become an Operating Thetan (The Seventh Dynamic is life source, and the source of all life is the Thetan) then one will discover “the true Eighth Dynamic”.

For COS the true Eighth Dynamic then is that the Thetan is, in fact, God.

This “narcisstheistic” (to coin a phrase) belief fits extremely well with Scientology as a whole. It’s teachings and policies are isolating and not geared toward family or community. Members keep friendship and the support it may offer at bay with Knowledge Reports on one another, families are kept separate in the SeaOrg, thus denying the strength and comfort of solid familial relationships. Children are seen and treated as adults in small bodies so loving, nurturing foundations are removed. Paranoia is rampant, anyone not of a like mind is seen as an enemy to be attacked. The policies of Fair Game and Disconnection alone show the depth of enmity towards community.
In all, ultimately the Scientologist has no one to trust or rely upon but himself and Scientology.

It’s spiritual doctrine of The Eight Dynamics is simply a rambling, dressed up explanation that there is no God but Thetan.
David Miscavige must have at some point recently realized that aligning Scientology with traditional religion was a mistake. The above quoted paragraph that used to be on their website has now been replaced with; “Scientology is something one does, not something one believes in.”
No Faith.
Nothing one believes in.
No God but man.
Unrecognizable as any religion but fits very nicely as an unregulated, untaxed conglomerate cult.