“Why Adi Da Left Scientology” by Yogabum.
I just read Franklin’s chapter on Scientology, originally published in the “Knee of Listening” but expunged from later print runs as part of the ongoing Adi Da “mythologization” process.
This brought to mind a personal anecdote that is perhaps worth sharing here.
I originally moved to California in 1975 to join Bubba Free John’s community, after several years of correspondence with William “Billy” Tsiknas, one of Bubba’s closest intimates and, at the time of my arrival and for sometime thereafter, Bubba’s chief agent and spokesman in the community. Billy was also in charge of all editorial activities, which he co-supervised with Bubba’s legal wife, Nina Jones (later known as “Dama Ninth Mary”), frequently referred to in his writings and these archives.
My “guru seva” (“service to the Guru”) at the time was in the editorial department, under Billy and Nina’s supervision. My chief responsibility was frontline, initial editing of all of Bubba’s private manuscripts, typically typed by one of his “wives” from a tape recording that took place at a recent talk, typically given at his residence to his intimate circle of devotees.
This editing took place in the upper rooms of the Hotel at Persimmon reserved for his teachings, library, tapes, etc. This was my primary service responsibility for many years, both on the weekends at The Land, as well as during the week, when I would drive a hundred miles or so (each way) every night after working all day in San Francisco, edit manuscripts till dawn, then drive back to the City for a few hours sleep (if lucky) then off to work, and back up to The Land, ad infinitum.
On one particular occasion I was given a manuscript that discussed Bubba’s involvement in Scientology in great detail. I remember being shocked at the time, as I held Scientology in low esteem as a “cult” and any reference to Scientology printed in the earliest editions of “Knee of Listening” had already been expurgated before my first encounter with the teaching. So, until this moment, I was personally unaware of Bubba’s involvement in Scientology, as were nearly all of his devotees at the time, except those with whom he had been involved for many years, mostly members of his intimate “circle” since the earliest days of his teaching work in LA, even before he founded his first ashram, Sri Hridayam Satsang, and many years before moving north to The Land known initially as “Persimmon”.
According to Bubba’s own words – these were original transcripts typed by his “gopis” (or “wives”) from a talk tape recorded at his home only days before – he discussed in detail his involvement with L. Ron Hubbard and his favorite memories of his escapades as a Scientology “auditor” with his best friend (at the time), Salvatore (“Sal”) Lucania, a former founder of the famed Phoenix House drug rehabilitation center/s in NYC.
Bubba’s favorite story in the transcript told how he came to leave Scientology. Basically, he was fired and kicked out of Scientology for his now notorious sexual escapades. Sound familiar?
On one particular day, Bubba entertained a group of Scientologists that included a couple of nuns. In order to teach them a lesson and “loosen them up” a bit, he forced them, and everyone else in the group, to drink whiskey (Jack Daniels if I recall). Then he persuaded the nuns, and everyone else, to disrobe. He then crawled under a table with the naked nuns and whipped them with a belt or a riding crop (can’t recall which specifically). If I recall, this evolved into a drunken sex orgy as well.
Obviously, this didn’t go over well with the Scientology establishment, and Bubba, along with Sal, were defrocked as auditors and banished from Hubbard’s cult.
So, that’s the story – from Bubba’s own mouth – of how he came to leave Scientology. It also offers a very private glimpse into the earliest “sexual theater” practiced by Bubba and Sal. By the time I entered the Ashram, this sexual theater was in full swing on a massive scale, having begun in earnest during the fabled “Garbage and the Goddess” period. And, as far as I know, it continues secretly today as the primary “spiritual” practice of Bubba and his most intimate circle of “advanced practitioners”.
I’m sure Sal will confirm the event, as he confirmed it verbally to me. I’m also sure that transcript never saw the light of day, and was probably destroyed decades ago, probably even before the massive shredding of documents brought on by the lawsuits and media revelations about Bubba by the so-called “dissidents” in 1985.
As a postscript to this commentary, anyone interested in how Bubba translated his Scientology practices into his teaching work should study Scientology “thought reform” techniques carefully. There you’ll find the literal blue print, technique by technique, Bubba used in effectively forming his own religion. This begins with Hubbard’s founding principle: To control people, you must lie to them.