How do Scientology teachings resemble ideas about reincarnation?

In Scientology, the concept of the thetan serves as the individual's authentic spiritual identity, which is considered the true self capable of existing independently of the body.12

Scientology teachings resemble reincarnation through the belief that thetans have inhabited other bodies prior to their current one. This perspective posits that thetans originated billions of years ago and, over time, became trapped within the physical universe of matter, energy, space, and time (MEST). As they moved through this universe, they experienced events that resulted in the loss of their memories and creative abilities, eventually leading them to Earth as humans.12

While this belief in the continuity of the spiritual self across different lifetimes shares similarities with reincarnation in Eastern religions, Scientology focuses on the process of "auditing" to help individuals confront and eliminate engrams—negative mental images from past experiences—to regain their full spiritual functioning as an operating thetan.132