Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology Read Online Free PDF

multiple lives as they were reincarnated over and over for all of eternity.
    The Sea Org continues to be made up of the most devout and dedicated Scientologists. A clergy of sorts, who work for the church and are held to the highest standards within the organization. Although there are no official numbers, I have heard that there are close to 4,000 Sea Organization members in the United States and roughly 20,000 Scientology parishioners total. So roughly one in five members tends to be in the Sea Org. (The church claims to have roughly 10 million parishioners worldwide, but this number apparently includes anyone who has ever bought a book, taken a course, or entered a church building. Estimates of the actual worldwide members are closer to 35,000.)
    The recruiters told Mom and Dennis, “This is the best thing for you, for the planet—you have a responsibility. Look at your girls, what are they doing? They’re going down the wrong path. They’re hanging around bad people. A criminal element. What kind of a life is that?”
    By this time I was going through a combo package RunDMC/Puerto Rican phase where I wore only Adidas, had a mullet, sang Menudo songs (even though I didn’t speak Spanish), and hung out in Cropsey Park with a bunch of break-dancers. At least that’s what I thought they were. As it turned out, they were also part-time drug dealers. But I didn’t know about that. Back then everybody carried a fanny pack.
    The recruiters preyed on my mom’s concern for us to have a better life and her devotion to the religion. They said, “Your girls can do what they want to do in the Sea Org. Leah can act right away in the Scientology movies, and Nicole can train to be a lawyer for the church. The planet is going downhill, your help is needed, and in the end what will be your answer to this question: ‘Did you help?’ ”
    Mom and Dennis had already committed themselves to Scientology, bought it hook, line, and sinker, and now they were told they needed to do more.
    So not only would we be saving the planet as Scientology dictates, but we would also be doing the things we loved. And Mom and Dennis could move up the Bridge for free (this was provided only to Sea Org members) and with no distractions from the outside world. Plus no more paying bills, as the Sea Org would provide us with housing, food, clothing…It was all just too good to be true. Who could blame Mom and Dennis for signing us all up for that?

Chapter Two

    B Y THE TIME N ICOLE, M OM, and I got off the plane in Tampa, it was two in the morning and I was exhausted but excited. I was leaving home for something big. I had already made huge sacrifices—like leaving behind my Smurf collection—but that’s what you do when you are on a mission to clear the planet.
    We were headed to the Gulf Coast city of Clearwater, Florida—the mecca of Scientology, otherwise known as Flag (a carryover from the Sea Org term “Flagship,” which itself was a carryover from Hubbard’s ships when he moved back to land in 1975). We had come there to get the whole planet up to Clear—the goal of Scientology. Clear is the state on “the Bridge” that you achieve through Scientology auditing when you no longer have a reactive mind, which is defined as the “hidden source of irrational behavior, unreasonable fears, upsets and insecurities.” The Bridge is the route or guide to each higher state. As the Scientology literature states, “One walks it and one becomes free.”
    It would be a fresh start for all of us, including Mom and Dennis, who were now married and expecting a baby in three months. Dennis had stayed back in Brooklyn to deal with getting rid of everything in our apartment and to accumulate more money knowingthat we wouldn’t be making much after this point. He planned to join us in a few weeks.
    While on the plane, I had imagined the welcome we would get when we landed. I pictured men in suits waiting for us at the gate. “Ron has been expecting