Robert Kaufman, a talented Broadway piano player, ditched his life as a musician to chase '
Clear' and beyond in Scientology, leaving
Manhattan for what was then the newly opened '
Advanced Org' in
Edinburgh,
Scotland. He came home a broken man, checked himself into a mental hospital, and then began writing about his experience in Scientology as a form of therapy. By
1969 he had a manuscript completed, but he struggled to find a publisher. Finally, after books by
George Malko,
Paulette Cooper, and
Cyril Vosper had appeared, Kaufman's 'Inside Scientology' came out in
1972, published by the prestigious literary house Olympia Press. But few saw it, and it quickly sank into obscurity. Fortunately for us, Professor Touretzky at
Carnegie Mellon University hosts the entire text of the book. We chose a portion of one chapter to show you that in fact it was Kaufman, more than 45 years ago, who first revealed the secret materials of the Upper Levels, including the
Xenu story in
OT III. More about Kaufman at the end of the excerpt.
"Are you a former release?" The Third Mate sat back in her chair watching me. "There was a big read on that," she said. I didn't comprehend. Her enigmatic expression slowly changed into a beatific smile and the meaning of the question and read finally dawned on me.
"A former release ... does that mean ... I'm clear?"