"We all have the undeniable sensation of free will in moments of crisis or
great excitment. It is an idea that has occurred to many occultists: that life is basically
some kind of game, whose pre-condition is that the players should suffer from amnesia, and then
cope as best as they can with the series of choices presented over three-quarters of a century.
In that case, criminals could be regarded as the losers, those who have made the worst possible
choices; the winners would be those who have come closest to overcoming the 'forgetfulness' with
which we begin the game. In 'The Mysterious Stranger,' Mark Twain made the disturbing assertion
that God got tired of being in a lonely, empty universe, and created the whole shadow-show
of life, in which he is the only real person-- the others being robots, made to seem alive.
The founder of scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, teaches that men are gods who invented the world
as a game, into which they 'descended,' and then became victims of their own amnesia, so they
became trapped in their game. It is unnecessary to point out that all the great religions
hold the view that the essence of man and the essence of God are one and the same."

- Colin Wilson, The Occult




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