When [Paul] Haggis first turned to Scientology, he considered himself an atheist. Scientology seemed to him less a religion than a set of useful principles for living. He mentioned the ARC Triangle; \u201cARC\u201d\u009d stands for \u201cAffinity, Reality, and Communication.\u201d\u009d Affinity, in this formulation, means the emotional response that partners have toward each other; reality is the area of common agreement. Together, these contribute to the flow of communication. \u201cThe three parts together equal understanding,\u201d\u009d Haggis said. \u201cIf you\u2019re having a disagreement with someone, your affinity drops quickly. Your mutual reality is shattered. Your communication becomes more halted. You begin to talk over each other. There\u2019s less and less understanding. But all you need to do is to raise one part of the triangle and you increase the others as well. I still use that.\u201d\u009d
Some aspects of Scientology baffled him. He hadn\u2019t been able to get through \u201cDianetics\u201d\u009d: \u201cI read about thirty pages. I thought it was impenetrable.\u201d\u009d But much of the coursework gave him a feeling of accomplishment. He was soon commuting from London, Ontario, to Toronto to take more advanced courses, and, in 1976, he travelled to Los Angeles for the first time. He checked in at the old Chateau \u00c3\u2030lys\u00c3\u00a9e, on Franklin Avenue. Clark Gable and Katharine Hepburn had once stayed there, but when Haggis arrived it was a run-down church retreat called the Manor Hotel. (It has since been spectacularly renovated and turned into the flagship Celebrity Centre.) \u201cI had a little apartment with a kitchen I could write in,\u201d\u009d he recalls. \u201cThere was a feeling of camaraderie that was something I\u2019d never experienced\u201d\u201dall these atheists looking for something to believe in, and all these loners looking for a club to join….\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Since leaving the church, Haggis has been in therapy, which he has found helpful. He\u2019s learned how much he blames others for his problems, especially those who are closest to him. \u201cI really wish I had found a good therapist when I was twenty-one,\u201d\u009d he said. In Scientology, he always felt a subtle pressure to impress his auditor and then write up a glowing success story. Now, he said, \u201cI\u2019m not fooling myself that I\u2019m a better man than I am.”<\/b><\/p>\n