Photographed by L. Ron Hubbard
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Finding classrooms too confining, Ron ventured far abroad, travelling the Orient aboard vessels such as the USS Henderson. Among the many photographs he took were the intriguing temple of one thousand Buddhas and the Empress Dowager Cixi’s Summer Palace, both in Beijing.
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Photographed by L. Ron Hubbard
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At the end of 1923, young Ron travelled to Washington, D.C. via the Panama Canal, meeting Commander Joseph C. Thompson of the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Commander Thompson was the first officer sent by the U.S. Navy to study under Sigmund Freud, and took it upon himself to pass on the essentials of Freudian theory to his young friend. “Through his friendship,” Ron noted, “I attended many lectures given at naval hospitals and generally became conversant with psychoanalysis as it had been exported from Austria by Freud.” Although keenly interested in the commander’s lessons, Ron was also left with many unanswered questions.
In 1927, at the age of sixteen, Ron took the first of his several voyages across the Pacific to Asia. There, both on his own and in the company of an officer attached to the British legation, he took advantage of this unique opportunity to study Far Eastern culture. Among others he befriended and learned from was a thoroughly insightful Beijing magician who represented the last of the line of Chinese magicians from the court of Kublai Khan.
Although primarily renowned as an entertainer, Old Mayo was also well versed in China’s ancient wisdom that had been handed down from generation to generation. Ron passed many evenings in the company of such wise men, eagerly absorbing their words.
It was also through the course of these travels that Ron gained access to the much talked-about but rarely seen Buddhist lamaseries in the Western Hills of China — temples usually off-limits to both local peasants and visiting foreigners.
1928 — Guam
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Ron’s first Pacific crossings took him to the jungles of Guam, the coastlines of China and the Hills of the Himalayas.
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Among other wonders, Ron told of watching monks meditate for weeks on end, contemplating higher truths. Once again then, he spent much of his time investigating and questioning, seeking answers to the human dilemma.
Beyond the lamasery walls, he closely examined the surrounding culture. In addition to the local Tartar tribes, he spent time with nomadic bandits originally from Mongolia. He further travelled up and down the China coast exploring villages and cities, delving into the fabric of the nation.
