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Life 102 (book)
Encyclopedia
Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You is a controversial book by the best-selling
self-help author Peter McWilliams
. Couched in the tone of the author's Life 101 manuals, it levels a series of personal allegations against John-Roger (Roger Delano Hinkins), founder of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness
(MSIA) and of Insight Seminars
.
These allegations caused the book, self-published in 1994 under the imprint of Prelude Press of Los Angeles, to itself become the subject of litigation for libel. Remaining copies were withdrawn from sale. The volume discusses in detail McWilliams's own experiences over a fifteen-year period:
McWilliams describes his struggle with depression, and claims that Hinkins promised him "spiritual healing" in exchange for crediting "John-Roger" as co-author of a series of self-improvement manuals which later made the New York Times best-seller lists
.
Hinkins sued McWiliams for libel, and in due course obtained full rights to Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You. The volume has been out of print ever since. It is about the only McWilliams title not available via the author's website. When the book later appeared on another website without permission, McWilliams in a notarized letter formally requested the site owner to remove it:
McWilliams died in June 2000.
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
self-help author Peter McWilliams
Peter McWilliams
Peter Alexander McWilliams was a writer and self-publisher of best-selling self-help books. He was an advocate for those suffering from depression. And, in his later years, he was a cannabis activist. Terminally ill with AIDS and cancer, he became a vocal campaigner for the legalization of medical...
. Couched in the tone of the author's Life 101 manuals, it levels a series of personal allegations against John-Roger (Roger Delano Hinkins), founder of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness
Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness
The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness is a 501 non-profit religious corporation, incorporated in California on June 25, 1971. Before incorporation, the group was founded in California in 1968 by John-Roger...
(MSIA) and of Insight Seminars
Insight Seminars
Insight Seminars is an international non-profit organization headquartered in Santa Monica, California. The first seminar was led in 1978 by founders John-Roger and Russell Bishop under the name Insight Training Seminars. Insight has held seminars in 34 countries for adults, teens, and children, in...
.
These allegations caused the book, self-published in 1994 under the imprint of Prelude Press of Los Angeles, to itself become the subject of litigation for libel. Remaining copies were withdrawn from sale. The volume discusses in detail McWilliams's own experiences over a fifteen-year period:
As much as we like to think that we are independent-minded, free-willed, autonomous individuals, the fact remains that some part of us is still susceptible to programming.
Programming can happen to anyone. Intelligence, education, common sense, belief, or convictions offer little protection. All it takes is repetition (the slow route) or vulnerability (the fast route) and, eventually, we're hooked. Master programmers - from cult leaders to cigarette companies to government agencies - do both, as often as possible, whether you like it or not.
Ironically, the more immune to programming you think you are, the more susceptible you become.
McWilliams describes his struggle with depression, and claims that Hinkins promised him "spiritual healing" in exchange for crediting "John-Roger" as co-author of a series of self-improvement manuals which later made the New York Times best-seller lists
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
.
Hinkins sued McWiliams for libel, and in due course obtained full rights to Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You. The volume has been out of print ever since. It is about the only McWilliams title not available via the author's website. When the book later appeared on another website without permission, McWilliams in a notarized letter formally requested the site owner to remove it:
"[T]he content of the book is no longer one with which I would like to have my name associated . . . [W]hen I left MSIA, I thought it was John-Roger who deceived me, so my anger poured out, rather lavishly, on him. In fact, the larger deception was that there is a God at all, and for that I have a lot more people and institutions to blame than John-Roger . . . [A]s 'religious leaders' go, John-Roger is on the benign side. As I see it, the Pope, for example, is far, far more dangerous."
McWilliams died in June 2000.