Meet a Scientologist—Zahid Qureshi, Making a Science of Helping People
When Zahid Qureshi was introduced to Scientology, it made perfect sense to him. It appealed to his practical nature while satisfying his thirst for the spiritual.
Born and raised in Pakistan, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering, Qureshi came to America in 1970 to do postgraduate work at MIT. But by 1986, a failed marriage and a dead-end job had robbed life of the promise it once held for him.
That was when he watched a Dianetics infomercial on TV. In dire straits, he managed to scrape together just enough to get a copy of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.
“L. Ron Hubbard was an engineer and thought like one. Dianetics is written like an engineering manual. It totally aligned with my logical way of thinking. I had no question that this would work,” he says.
And it did. He was able to divest himself of the negativity that had dominated his perception of what he could and could not do.
“Scientology restored my self-confidence—my belief in my own abilities,” he says. “What’s more, for the first time I had the tools to do things I always wanted to do. I can really help people and, boy, how heartwarming is that?”
Qureshi, 66, and wife Marijke are both Scientology ministers and spiritual counselors and he is still amazed at the difference Scientology makes in people’s lives.
“Our mission is happiness for the individual,” he says. “There is no attempt to mold people to how we want them to be. We work with them toward enhancing the best they already possess. That is the simplicity of our mission.”
To illustrate the difference Scientology can make in someone’s life, Qureshi shared the story of a woman whose temper was destroying her marriage. She would be perfectly fine at work but at home with her husband she would go into a blind rage.
“In our counseling, we uncovered something she had forgotten—throughout her childhood her father had abused her mother. The woman suddenly saw that an insignificant mannerism of her husband would trigger this childhood incident and her reaction to it. As soon as she spotted that, the anger was gone,” says Qureshi.
Qureshi is also involved in civic projects. He volunteered for the New York Firefighters Detoxification Project that helped resolve lung and body ailments of firefighters and other rescue workers injured and disabled from inhaling toxic debris at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attack. He is currently working on a project to help reduce crime in countries with high crime rates. The project is based on The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard, a nonreligious moral code based wholly on common sense.
“There is no way I could put into words how I feel because of Scientology,” says Qureshi. “How can you describe what it means to get back to who you really are with all your capabilities intact, ready to take on the world to accomplish your purposes?”
To learn more about Scientology and view videos of more than 200 Scientologists, visit the Scientology website.
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The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total more than 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.
A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, with videos now viewed more than 6 million times.
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