I was thrilled to learn yesterday that A Billion Years was included in Amazon’s list of best biographies and memoirs of 2022.
The full list is here.
It is very gratifying to know the work I put into this book is being so well received. I sincerely hope it brings some insight to help anyone who reads it live a better life.
You and Leah are so inspiring and brave. Thank you for continuing this difficult fight and your bravery. You truly are heroes!
Talk about a nightmare life! I was blown away by a New Yorker cartoon depicting a hirer asking a hiree if the hiree was a “team player” and the hiree says:
“Team player! I was in a cult for 20 years.”
Mike could say to an HR hirer who asked the same question: “What’s your ability to deal with difficult predicaments?”
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The book is so heavy, so “restimulative” to me, I can’t read the later chapters, without getting in a turmoil about Miscavige’s era.
I have to let it go, the subject, the core beliefs and practices of Scientology are one thing, and those are “secret” and Scientology due to Hubbard’s rules, refuses to actually define “What Is Scientology?”
The story in Mike’s book about the “What Is Scientology?” puts me in total turmoil, it is the biggest frustrating question, since I always wanted to know what the heck are Scientology’s practices.
Hubbard made the upper practices secret.
The upper practices, OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are exorcism of surplus souls that supposedly infest our human bodies to our detriment.
Scientology most grossly and frustratingly fails to define itself, and the members, the media, the outsides, the public, wait in vain for a simple definition of “What Is Scientology?”
I pleaded with the new religious movement academics to even just use only the “Grade Chart” (the syllabus for the practices runway menu of Scientology) and to this day, it’s not been done still, with correct simply neutral language.
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I hated the “What Is Scientology” revision of 1991ish, even though parts were better, no where in the book are the core practices emphasized.
Scientology is pseudo-therapy.
Scientology is exorcism (high volume extended, stretched out for years of it)
Scientologists mostly are incapable (I was) of becoming the pseudo-therapist.
Few of the total Scientologists ever rise up the syllabus of Scientology to the exorcism ( I didn’t, even after 27 years in Sea Org) practices.
Scientology is truly a long runway, very difficult to become, the pseudo-therapist and the exorcist, practice.
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Mike’s book, is just outstanding, and something that shows how massive the cult bureaucracy of Scientology is.
Mike I’m sure could go on and on, and in some ways I wish he did, but then in other ways, the whole massive side deflecting cult bureaucracy and nasty branch, and the “strategic” top management jobs of Scientology which Hubbard exhaustively also wrote about, and which Mike doesn’t get into, it’s sidestepping OFF of the “What Is Scientology?” fundamental question that is never emphasized.
Scientology is a pseudo-therapy and exorcism subject, with a huge outsized cult bureaucracy and sidestepping regulations membership turmoil maelstrom of debris to the followers and staffs, and all of the maelstrom Hubbard predicament causing repulations totally and forever swamp the discussion of Scientology.
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I spent most of my pondering hours on Sea Org staff freely thinking, “What would the outside world think of all this?”
The outside world is swirling in the side issues of Scientology. As horrible as all that debris causing lives Hubbard’s rules and regulations cause, the subject can’t really be touched upon, since the debris from Scientology upstages what Scientology is.
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I wish there were a short and better written book of the core practices, the auditing (the quack pseudo-therapy, and lay it out level and process by process), and the exorcism (and lay it out level and step by step).
The whole Dianetics fundamentals that still relate to the modern “Bridge” (syllabus) could be written about, to show the whole Dianetics sidestepping answer to “What Is Scientology” is such a massive load of ruse.
Dianetics was fetus trauma theory/quack talk pseudo-therapy. Fetal trauma gets no mention in the media, yet fetal trauma was as far back “basic on the chain” for the engrams that were supposed to be quack therapized by Dianetics quack pseudo-therapy. Dianetics is fetal trauma quack pseudo-therapy.
All the diverging other things Dianetics was, was Hubbard’s first round of sidestepping wordage to sidestep, and all these decades, the fetal trauma pseudo-therapy has been effectively not focused on or seen by the public, as what Dianetics was.
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Scientology focused on “case”, like Dianetics also focused on “case” (Dianetics “case” was one’s fetal trauma engrams that needed airing out and erasing).
Scientology “case” in the early
50’s needs likewise, year and month by month, dissecting.
All way up to when Hubbard from the 1950s, to the end of his life, listed out and had followers do various “talk” one on one, pseudo-therapy procedures, addressing different parts of the supposed human “case” to alleviate it, with the various types of Hubbard pseudo-therapy that Hubbard came up with.
Scientology was a total load of decades different types of regimented talk quack pseudo-therapy addressing what supposedly is a person’s “case” difficulties.
Soul case was thought to go back into past lives case we accumulated.
Each of the pseudo-therapy procedures of Scientology address some part of a human’s or a human’s soul’s case. And Scientology thinks we are these souls that transmigrate.
Just because Hubbard refused to admit Scientology is a soul transmigration believing subject, and Hubbard indoctrinated (brainwashed) the followers and thus the media and outsiders to use the same Hubbard false claiming “differences” with the Scientology procedures, it’s just Hubbard lying.
Scientology is quack pseudo-therapy, just a huge outlay of different methods of quack pseudo-therapy commands to ask of the patient/follower to dig into the follower’s “case” and supposedly alleviate “case” problems the follower is suffering from.
And then the exorcism, the secret nature of the Hubbard Xenu theory, it falls away, if you just see through the science fiction theory, and see that Hubbard believed and has Scientologists also learn to accept and believe in massive numbers of invisible surplus bodiless souls which infest a human being’s body, and that the five long expensive exorcism levels OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, aim to remove those surplus souls off a human body, and doing so the “case” leaking from those surplus souls goes away with the exorcised souls.
The administration part, the “admin” part of Scientology, and then the whole presentation of Scientology, is all on Hubbard, and it is the communication and administration part of Scientology that is deepest flawed and backfiring.
Even to this day. Few will cut Scientology down to pseudo-therapy and exorcism. (Much of the pseudo-therapy delves into past lives. The exorcism is massive amounts of surplus souls elimination.)
All the other Hubbard sidestepping cult bureaucracy traumatizing predicaments and the regulations for the followers to even receive the quackery, is what gets all of the public wincing and wishing Scientology would just cease to exist.
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I loved how Mike’s book explains the Pat Broeker saga a little better.
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Question for Mike: Is the obstruction of justice practices by OSA today got a paper trail that the FBI and US Justice Dept can even today find if they knew where to look?
Mike could easily rightly say:
“There’s not even the word in the English language to describe being PR Man and Spy/Nasty Branch Boss for the Cult of Scientology for 20 years!”
“I wrote a book, and it’s worse than even I described it.”
Much to Frankenfuhrer’s dismay, I don’t think many people think much about Scientology. Certainly not good impressions. The commercials they’re running right now are sad attempts to give them validity.
I wonder if your family “ins” are having their houses searched weekly to be sure you didn’t surreptitiously send them a copy of your book.
Congrats on the recognition.
Fantastic!
The best part is imagining the little elf walking in circles with clenched fists and smoke coming out of his ears!
Well done Mike!
Heck of an accomplishment!
You would think that each of the millions and millions and millions of $camologists that are scattered throughout the world could have been ordered to go out and buy up multiple copies Ryan Prescott’s hard hitting, analytical and scholarly refutation of Mike’s book to get to the top of the sales list.
What a missed opportunity.
Books make BOOM!
After reading your book – loved it – and watching your show, listening to podcasts, etc. it seems like David miscabitch (intentional) isn’t very intelligent. The insults he uses sound like something a kid that just learned cuss words would say. He also seems very immature…the swearing and torturous games he inflicts are prime examples. It makes sense that he surrounds himself with the most intelligent, well spoken members of Scientology to make himself seem smarter and more worldly. He then turns on everyone around him and then has to bring them back out of the hole or wherever to help him because he can’t handle things on his own. The letters that they publish attacking their critics are also very high school-ish sounding. All that being said…is he as stupid and immature as he is portrayed? Also, did he drop out of high school because he was being bullied? I remember his dad saying that David dropped out of school because he couldn’t handle it anymore. He strikes me as someone with an enormous inferiority complex – probably the only enormous thing about him. Thanks and again, the book was amazing!
I ‘made do’ (which clearly wasn’t just making do) with the audible version initially while I waited for my signed copy to make its way from Santa’s SP workshop in Castle Rock, to your old home town for the briefest of moments Haywards Heath, and then once it arrived read the book too. I enjoyed listening to you tell the story so much (you did such a good job it was more like a chat amongst friends) that when reading the book I at several points read things swore I didn’t know/ hadn’t heard before, at least I thought so even though in reality i obviously had, so it was great to experience the story twice. Huge congrats on such a successful launch and impressive sales Mike, you deserve it!
Congratulations!
I thought it was a great book – finished it a few weeks ago.
Congratulations! I’ve read your book and applaud your courage in speaking out about the abuses.
Gratifying indeed – well done!
OMG Mike, I am so proud of you. Looking at the full list of Amazon’s best bio’s, its wonderful that your book, your piece of art is standing next to some of the best writers of today. I finished your book just as we were landing in New Zealand. I loved every page of it. I left in 1976 and your book gave me such additional insight in how the cruelty, degradation and mental torture of the individual continued to escalate in that environment. I thought it was bad when I escaped. Sadly, that time was nothing compared to what SCN and SO kept morphing into. I believe LRH designed it that way, his own little insane asylum, trying to solve his own insanity. DM, who is just as evil knew how to exploit the already “Conditioned” followers for his own insanity and greed.
Are you home from your adventure?
Yes, I loved your homeland. But I’m glad to home for a bit.
Sorry I missed you when I was over your way last month. But glad you had a good trip!
Well done Mikey boy!
Congratulations Mike! I just finished reading your book the other week and I loved it. You and Leagh are my new favorite people and I hope you start up your podcast again (I miss hearing “Hi Mikey, hi Lee Lee). Much love and respect to you.
STAND league will probably make their own list as they also had their writers:-)
But are they decent writers?
Re: A Better Life
Congratulations, Mike!
I read A Billion Years, and learned about the inner struggles that a high ranking Scientology Executive faced on a daily, if not hourly, basis. You wanted to do the right thing and help your group. After some time, however, the bad outweighed the good. Soon, David Miscavige forced you into his very own hell, including The Hole.
I love the fact that when you finally escaped, you did so with a little bit of money, the clothes on your back… and a thumb drive.
More POWER to you, Mr. Rinder!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Mike. I just finished reading your book and would give it 5 big stars. I found the book to be well written, engaging and revealing. I believe that this style of memoir is somewhat unique in that it is written as a letter to your children who are still trapped in the cult. That gives it special meaning. You could have gone into a lot more detail at various times, but that was not the purpose of the book. Thanks for all you do and keep up the good work.
Congratulations! Such a well written and important book. It will no doubt help many people.
Congratulations Mike.
You are doing more to help mankind that any scientologist that is helping to “Clear the Planet.”
More than most people, you are doing more to prevent others from joining a group that could adversely effect their lives. That is the biggest accomplishment from this book and your other efforts.
Good.