Though defining spirit has always become a problem to many people, some would say that the human kind can be referred to as a spirit. According to Scientology, spirit refers to “oneself” (Sawada 3) which is similar to what most religions subscribe to. Secondly, there is the idea of inventing new words which can then be used to explain new concepts that do not have existing words. For lack of a clear descriptive word, Hubbard borrowed the word “thetan” from the Greek language to mean spirit (Sawada 3). The idea of coming up with new words is also not new to religion. For instance, there is a master in Japan called Kobodaishi who came up with many words which were needed to develop and practice the religion (Sawada 3). However unlike in religion where God has been described using new words, in Scientology, God has not been described by any new term. Members of Scientology are allowed to have their own ideas of God depending on how they understand it.
Additionally, Buddhism and Scientology share the concept of “apparency of life” where both the apparent world and the physical world are similar (Sawada 4). Also, Scientology has some similarity with other religions when it comes to ceremonies. Both have ceremonies such as weddings and funeral services which are an integral part of their lives (Sawada