The Other Side of Enlightenment

When Hassan got to the Laquidara home in Maui, he set down to work immediately. He spent two days getting to know the family, giving them a crash course in mind control and presenting the information he’d collected on Dahn. The person they were about to confront, he cautioned, was not the Ari they knew; he was under a sort of spell. Then Hassan retreated to his hotel to wait.

Ari arrived for what he thought would be a joyful Christmas at home. He’d found Dahn the year before while taking a break from Brandeis to do some “soul-searching and bartending” in Hawaii. The group had brought him happiness, confidence, and the kind of friendships he’d never known. He’d become less cynical and cut back on alcohol. Now he was back in Hawaii and thrilled to have the chance to show his parents the changes he’d made in his life. He got up before dawn each morning to do his Dahn meditation and calisthenics. Then he washed the dishes from the night before and left the kitchen spotless.

The day after Christmas, as Charles, Ari, and his mother, Doreen, were lounging in the living room, the mood shifted. Charles turned to Ari and told him there was something very important he needed him to do. First, he made Ari promise not to call anyone from Dahn for the rest of his stay. Then he told Ari that he had asked a friend of a friend from Boston to spend a few days with them, and he wanted Ari to listen to the guest’s perspective on Dahn. Once Ari agreed, in walked Hassan, dressed casually in shorts and sandals. Ari sank into the couch, a queasy feeling coming over him. He looked at his parents, disbelieving, demanding to know what was going on. But he already knew.

Over the next few days, Ari watched videos about a number of cults, heard Hassan explain his cult-identification model, and took calls from former Dahn members who detailed their problems with the organization and its leader. Hassan informed Ari that Ilchi Lee, Dahn’s founder, had been convicted of fraud in Korea. Lee claimed he could teach children to see while blindfolded—where was the proof? Hassan asked. Where was all the money from the Dahn courses going? Why wasn’t more of it going to Ari’s paltry salary? He asked Ari to think about why a spiritual group aimed at helping people didn’t work in poor countries or even poor neighborhoods in the United States.

Ari began to feel drained, numb. He found himself agreeing with Hassan. His convictions about Dahn, so firm just days before, were weakening. But by the end of the third day, he realized he couldn’t let go of the good feelings he had for Dahn.

No matter how much sense Hassan had made, nothing he said could ultimately shake Ari’s faith. Rather than leave Dahn, Ari announced, he would return to the group in search of answers.

The next day, Ari stood in front of the house with his parents, the lawn beyond them giving way to a cliff that tumbled to the sea below. As the waves pounded the shoreline, Ari limply hugged his mom. A car idled in the driveway, waiting to take him to the airport. Doreen sobbed on the front steps as her son walked away. Charles was despondent. “We lost him,” he said. “The enemy won.”