Lehal Library

the practices of secret cults, sects, lamaseries, etc., such details were common knowledge. If this were true, what or who was I? Certainly too old to start life anew in a Tibetan monastery. The loneliness became acute. Evidently, there were no answers. Not in our culture. It was at this point that I discovered the existence of an underground in the United States. The only factor missing is that no laws exist against its function nor is there official persecution and prosecution involved. This underground only occasionally intermingles in part with the worlds of business, science, politics, academia, and the so-called arts. Furthermore, it definitely is not limited to the United States, but infiltrates all of Western civilization. Many people may have heard of it vaguely or casually have come in contact with it, and passed it off as just people with queer ideas. For one thing is usually certain: members of this underground who are respected in their communities do not talk about the interest or beliefs that qualify them for membership unless they know you too are in the club. They have learned from experience that to be outspoken brings censure —from their ministers, customers, employers, or even friends. I suspect the membership may run into millions—if all would admit to their qualification. They are found in all walks of life: scientists, psychiatrists, physicians, housewives, college students, businessmen, teen-agers, and at least a few ministers in formal religions. This group meets all the qualifications of an underground movement. They gather in small groups, quietly and often semi-secretly. (The events are often publicly announced, but you have to be "with it" before you can understand the notice.) The participants usually discuss affairs of the underground only with other members. Other than family or close friends (who are probably also members), the community doesn't know of this secret interest and life of the underground member. If you asked him, he would deny such membership because often he doesn't realize he really is so associated. All are to some degree emotionally and intellectually dedicated to a cause. Finally, the underground has its own literature, language, technology, and to some extent demigods. At the moment, this underground is highly disorganized. In fact, there is no organization whatsoever in the usual sense of the word. Rarely, even, have the local groups gone so far as to adopt a title or name for themselves. So far, they are simply small but regular gatherings held in someone's living room, or a bank's conference room, or quite possibly a church rectory. This