Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 49
Sea Org indoctrination in the Complex was gulag-like and extremely regimented. After I had
read The Complex, my United States Army basic training seemed like a far healthier romp.
After a time in Los Angeles, John moved from L. A. to St. Hill in England. In his auditing at
St. Hill, John achieved what he calls ―time travel,‖ which he attempts to describe. He asserts
that it occurred during an awake, rather than an asleep state but his perceptions while
entranced were, for example, ―dream-like pictures of riding a Jeep in a desert 8000 years
ago.‖ These reveries are then interpreted as examples of prior reincarnations.
John Duignan was a successful member of Scientology but was disadvantageously treated
as one of many routinely regarded drones. He felt he had many friends or associates while
he was in Scientology, but he was always curiously on his own. His is a fascinating story
that conveys what Scientology is all about and also conveys a good idea of what it is not
about.
John finally began to sneak peeks at computers not outfitted with Net-Nannys. His leaving
Scientology followed naturally after he began having insights about what he was accepting.
I suggest that you read The Complex and let him tell his story as he does so very well.
Whether you are an old hand or a novice, this book is worth reading. I believe it is
especially useful for students of many fields—cultic studies, psychology, sociology,
education, journalism, criminal justice, political science, history, and in fact almost all liberal
arts and preprofessional studies, especially medicine and law.
Edward A. Lottick, M. D.
Island
Aldous Huxley, New York, NY: Perennial Classics, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.,
2002 edition (originally published in 1962). ISBN-10: 0-06-008549-5 ISBN-13:
978-0060085490 (paperback), $14.95 ($10.17, Amazon.com). 354 pages.
Huxley’s Island and Leary’s LSD Experiment
―Attention!‖ This novel begins and ends with ―attention.‖ Trained, talking birds on the
idealized island of Pala randomly repeat that word and others, including ―karuna‖
(compassion), like mantras for all within earshot. The mynahs remind people to stay in the
moment, to observe the ―fact‖ of the environment and the immediacy of being. Talking
birds are only one odd feature that Will Farnaby, a shipwrecked spy, journalist, and
inadvertent seeker, discovers on Pala. Throughout the story Farnaby harbors a secret that
his powerful employer wants to take over Pala politically. The nearby nations envy Pala‘s
relatively isolationist prosperity built over 120 years.
The island of Pala is too good. Without a military and lacking greed for power, it is
vulnerable. The conspiracy to take over includes Pala‘s young ruler in waiting who
adamantly rejects the culture‘s way of life while siding with another nation‘s imperialist
scheme. Pala‘s people seek a practical life based on rational, modernist advances in
medicine, technology, and psychology, as well as in spirituality. Pala‘s religion combines
elements of modern psychology, Hinduism, Taoism, and insight from ―moksha medicine,‖
derived from a psychotropic plant. The Palanese employ technology sparingly to preserve
the value of human labor.
Soon after a wounded Will Farnaby arrives on Pala, a young girl finds him. She takes him to
meet Dr. Robert, an important official, for treatment. Dr. Robert shares a philosophical
treatise with Will, ―Notes on What‘s What,‖ written by the Old Raja of Pala. The odd gospel
elaborates the culture‘s non-dualist philosophy. Citizens of Pala avoid dualism, or what
Sea Org indoctrination in the Complex was gulag-like and extremely regimented. After I had
read The Complex, my United States Army basic training seemed like a far healthier romp.
After a time in Los Angeles, John moved from L. A. to St. Hill in England. In his auditing at
St. Hill, John achieved what he calls ―time travel,‖ which he attempts to describe. He asserts
that it occurred during an awake, rather than an asleep state but his perceptions while
entranced were, for example, ―dream-like pictures of riding a Jeep in a desert 8000 years
ago.‖ These reveries are then interpreted as examples of prior reincarnations.
John Duignan was a successful member of Scientology but was disadvantageously treated
as one of many routinely regarded drones. He felt he had many friends or associates while
he was in Scientology, but he was always curiously on his own. His is a fascinating story
that conveys what Scientology is all about and also conveys a good idea of what it is not
about.
John finally began to sneak peeks at computers not outfitted with Net-Nannys. His leaving
Scientology followed naturally after he began having insights about what he was accepting.
I suggest that you read The Complex and let him tell his story as he does so very well.
Whether you are an old hand or a novice, this book is worth reading. I believe it is
especially useful for students of many fields—cultic studies, psychology, sociology,
education, journalism, criminal justice, political science, history, and in fact almost all liberal
arts and preprofessional studies, especially medicine and law.
Edward A. Lottick, M. D.
Island
Aldous Huxley, New York, NY: Perennial Classics, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.,
2002 edition (originally published in 1962). ISBN-10: 0-06-008549-5 ISBN-13:
978-0060085490 (paperback), $14.95 ($10.17, Amazon.com). 354 pages.
Huxley’s Island and Leary’s LSD Experiment
―Attention!‖ This novel begins and ends with ―attention.‖ Trained, talking birds on the
idealized island of Pala randomly repeat that word and others, including ―karuna‖
(compassion), like mantras for all within earshot. The mynahs remind people to stay in the
moment, to observe the ―fact‖ of the environment and the immediacy of being. Talking
birds are only one odd feature that Will Farnaby, a shipwrecked spy, journalist, and
inadvertent seeker, discovers on Pala. Throughout the story Farnaby harbors a secret that
his powerful employer wants to take over Pala politically. The nearby nations envy Pala‘s
relatively isolationist prosperity built over 120 years.
The island of Pala is too good. Without a military and lacking greed for power, it is
vulnerable. The conspiracy to take over includes Pala‘s young ruler in waiting who
adamantly rejects the culture‘s way of life while siding with another nation‘s imperialist
scheme. Pala‘s people seek a practical life based on rational, modernist advances in
medicine, technology, and psychology, as well as in spirituality. Pala‘s religion combines
elements of modern psychology, Hinduism, Taoism, and insight from ―moksha medicine,‖
derived from a psychotropic plant. The Palanese employ technology sparingly to preserve
the value of human labor.
Soon after a wounded Will Farnaby arrives on Pala, a young girl finds him. She takes him to
meet Dr. Robert, an important official, for treatment. Dr. Robert shares a philosophical
treatise with Will, ―Notes on What‘s What,‖ written by the Old Raja of Pala. The odd gospel
elaborates the culture‘s non-dualist philosophy. Citizens of Pala avoid dualism, or what
