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Jefferson Hawkins
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Leaving Scientology: A Practical Guide to Escape and Recovery Kindle Edition

by Jefferson Hawkins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 31 ratings
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Written for Scientologists, ex-Scientologists, and their families, this book is a guide to leaving the Church of Scientology and recovering one's life. The author, Jefferson Hawkins, was a Church of Scientology staff member for over 30 years, and worked at the highest level of Scientology management. With intelligence and logic, he deconstructs the arguments, control mechanisms and lies used by the Church of Scientology to control their members. This book is vital reading for anyone re-evaluating their involvement with the Church of Scientology.
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  1. Print length
    148 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    June 7, 2012
  4. File size
    999 KB
  5. Page Flip
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  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0089SHGJI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hawkeye Publishing Co. (June 7, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 999 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 148 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

About the author

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Jefferson Hawkins

Jefferson Hawkins

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Jefferson Hawkins spent 36 years inside the Church of Scientology, becoming one of its top marketing executives. He helped craft Scientology's polished public façade, which he now reveals as hiding a merciless world of physical and mental abuse, harassment, sleep deprivation, labor camps, family disconnection, and human rights violations.

Now an outspoken critic and whistleblower, Hawkins exposed the shocking abuses that go on at Scientology’s highest levels in his 2010 memoir, Counterfeit Dreams: One Man’s Journey Into and Out of the World of Scientology.

He has written two additional nonfiction books exposing Scientology's system of mind control: Leaving Scientology: A Practical Guide to Escape and Recovery, and Closing Minds: How Scientology's "Ethics Technology" is Used to Control Their Members.

Hawkins has appeared on the Emmy-winning A&E series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, and was featured in Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie. He was interviewed by the St. Petersburg Times for their groundbreaking series unveiling Scientology’s abuses, and appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 for CNN’s three-part exposé, “Scientology: A History of Violence.”

Today, Hawkins works as a graphic designer in Portland, Oregon. He continues to assist individuals and families who have been victims of Scientology abuse.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
31 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Cumazon Amstomer
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent ex$cn book.
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
After reading basically every other ex $cn book, i believe this one to be the most analytical and clinical regarding the subject. Hawkins brings up some points of Neuro-linguistic programming, which to me are the biggest reason for the continued support of a "bad barrel". By controlling a person's language, you control their reality. Co$ is adept at this practice, which causes the motto "revenitas/revenimus" to be literally true in some cases. If you are in, READ THIS BOOK AND GET OUT. if you are interested in joining Co$, READ THIS BOOK INSTEAD (then read all the others from ex-clams; {oh no! a semi-colon!} They are all good - for a given value of good. Usually they are heart-rending accounts of personal loss, heartache, confusion and betrayal. They are "good" reads, meaning they are highly engrossing and even exciting, but not typically leave one at a high tone level. "Anger" for instance is considered "low toned". )
I am not now, nor was I ever part of the Co$, or a user/supporter of it's technology. I have my own opinions about the sci fi pulp writer whose infantile understanding of buddhism, thelema, the mind, and his own psychosis led him to create the farce of $cn.

By the by, most books on/about/relating to $cn typically contain a definition of $cn along with it's etymology, which is almost always incorrect. I don't care what the intent of "$ource" was when he re-appropriated the term, but I can tell you that Scio is Latin for "I know" (from Scire- to know) and Logos is Greek for "Word" or "speech". Possibly an early in-joke describing the NLP/reality tunnel aspect of $cn meaning: "know the words...."

Well, if you know them, FORGET THEM. Let your new motto become "Nunqualm Iterum"
3 people found this helpful
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Bruce Ploetz
5.0 out of 5 stars Help for those on the journey out
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2012
Verified Purchase
Just read this book straight through.

Couldn't stop.

Thanks, Jeff. A tiny gleam of light is breaking through the dark clouds and tells me there is sunshine somewhere, there is love and freedom, there is hope. Troubled clouds and high winds are not all there is to life.

Anyone who has been there knows what I mean, and you probably already pressed the Buy Now button. For those who have not, or who wonder what value there can be in the words of an apostate etc. etc. I suggest reading this book. While it pulls no punches it also does not engage in name calling or sensationalism. It is practical and provides guidance. There is a calm moving spiritual sense of exploration here, not a dogmatic polemic. That is just what we need.

If you are not a Scientologist or former this book is really not for you, Counterfeit Dreams: One Man's Journey Into and Out of the World of Scientology is the reference for outsiders. But there is an excellent chapter for friends and relatives of Scientologists that is really required reading for all concerned.

The official Church of Scientology will denounce this book and so will the rabid anti-Scientologists. So be it. Seekers of truth and ordinary people who need real insight and practical tips to reconstruct their lives after Scientology will rejoice. A few will leave it with tears in their eyes and a prayer, as do I.

Thanks, Jeff.
17 people found this helpful
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The Bookster
5.0 out of 5 stars All these books help me
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2013
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I enjoy reading the experiences and viewpoints of others. This is something I was not allowed to do as a cult member. Cutting one off from other terminals and viewpoints is the goal of any cult.
5 people found this helpful
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Jennifer Urbatsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read!!
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2016
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Good read!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

W D. McPhee
5.0 out of 5 stars Escellent guide
Reviewed in France on December 16, 2013
Verified Purchase
Good advice from one who has been there for victims of Scientology and their loved ones. It is of real value in helping people who have had their guideposts intentionally moved to find their bearing again the real world.

Using the cult's own terms and jargon, it uses an insider's perspective tor elate to the tumult of emotions, fear and confusion newly free people experience.
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Jens Tingleff
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent encouragement for the questioning scientologist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2012
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Hawkins describes his new book accurately as being "written for Scientologists, ex-Scientologists, and their families."

I have to say that I am not now, and have never been, in that group.

However, all of the groups listed above will find this book very different from the officially published materials from the scientology organisation itself.

For members - the most important audience - this book encourages an honest examination of the scientology organisation, rather than provide a bunch of pat answers.

Hawkins makes no secret of the fact that he is an ex-member who sees no positive side to the organisation. Rather than shove this fact down the throat of the reader, Hawkins poses a large number of queries about the organisation (and provides answers of his own). He also provides a number of references to other books, from Nineteen Eighty-four through The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classics) to the more recent The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil .

This is not, per se, a book that attempts to give an answer to the question "in how many ways is the scientology organisation wrong/bad?" In other words, it's not a classical critical book. Jefferson Hawkins first book Counterfeit Dreams (One Mans Journey Into And Out Of The Church Of Scientology) fits that bill much better (and is highly recommended). That said, much ground is covered regarding the things that disaffect current and ex-members. Notable omissions include the effects of the scientology organisation on the health of its members and the treatment of children in the so-called sea org. These are omissions that I note as a critic, I'm happy to add that this probably has no profound difference on what the intended reader takes away.

So, if all members of the scientology organisation could read this and honestly ask themselves (and other scientologists around them) the questions in this book, it wouldn't be needed. Until then, I think this book can be very useful to some people and informative to a great many others.
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