going-clear-scientology-hollywood-and-the-prison-of-belief-by-lawrence-wright-2

preclear and increase the preclear’s havingness.” Cruise went on to ask Headley to make
an object, such as a desk, hold still, or become more solid. Another exercise involved
telling an ashtray to stand up, at which point the preclear stands and lifts the ashtray,
thanks the ashtray, and then commands the ashtray to sit down. With each repetition,
the preclear’s commands get louder, so soon he is yelling at the ashtray at the top of his
voice. The purpose of this drill is to come to the realization that your intention is
separate from your words and the sound waves that carry them. These procedures went
on for hours, as Headley robotically responded to Cruise’s commands. “You learn that if
you don’t do what they say, they’ll just ask the same questions ve million times,”
Headley recalled. At one point, he fell asleep, but he kept responding automatically.
This training went on for hours every day for several weeks, until Tom and Nicole
returned to Hollywood.
When Nicole moved into Tom’s mansion in Pacic Palisades, they were under
constant watch. Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, interviewed Scientology candidates for Tom
and Nicole’s household sta. According to former executives, the Scientologists who
worked for Cruise and Kidman reported to the church about whatever they observed.
Miscavige oered the couple signicant gifts of service from Sea Org members. They
installed a sophisticated audiovisual system. Sinar Parman, the chef, says he helped
design the kitchen. There was a comfortable, symbiotic relationship between the star
and the church. The use of unpaid church clergy to help him renovate his house, hire his
staff, and install sophisticated technology was simply a part of the deal. 5
PAUL HAGGIS WAS ALWAYS a workaholic, and as his career took o, he spent even less time
with his family. He wouldn’t get home till late at night or early in the morning. His
three daughters scarcely knew who he was.
In general, Haggis was far more interested in causes than people. He drove an
environmentally friendly car—a little yellow Mini Cooper with a WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER
bumper sticker. The Haggis house became a regular stop for the social-justice sector of
the Hollywood left. Once when Haggis threw a fund-raiser for Tibet, the Dalai Lama
came. The backyard was strewn with celebrities and chanting monks. The girls thought
it was hysterical. Barbra Streisand introduced herself to the Dalai Lama, and he asked
what she did. “A little singing, a little dancing,” she told him.
For years, Paul and Diane’s marriage had been in turmoil, and in 1983 they began an
epic and bitter divorce. The proceedings lasted for nine years. The girls lived with
Diane, visiting Paul every other weekend. During this period of estrangement from his
wife, Haggis ew to New York with a casting director, who was also a Scientologist.
They shared a kiss. He later confessed the incident during an auditing session and was
sent to the Ethics Oce, where he was assigned some minor punishment. He had been
to Ethics before, usually for missing coursework, but he was beginning to feel that the
more famous he became, the less likely he was to be rebuked for behavior that was
considered “out ethics” for other members.
Anytime Haggis boggled at an illogical or fanciful piece of data, he was invariably