Church Hierarchy? I'm having trouble pinning down the exact process of "advancement" and different levels in the church. Can someone find something that explains what the deal is with these OT levels and how it works? All I have right now is some vague understanding that OTI = lol noob, OTVIII = Serious Dude, and getting from I to VIII is a serious cash grind. (No really, I feel like I'm talking about Everquest here or something) EDIT: Found it hiding within Wikipedia. It's surprisingly easy to get lost in the mass of Scientology-related articles on there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_Thetan Supposedly it goes all the way up to XV, after which you can hit "Cleared Theta Clear" and become god-like. Wonder how much that costs?
I talked to an ex member who told me about it. Right now the thing only goes as high as OTVIII (OT8). Supposedly l ron hubbard wrote all the levels up to OTXV (OT15) before he died, but no one is allowed to go higher than OT8 right now. The Co$ told them that they will release OT9 and OT10 when all the churches reach "Saint Hill Size". I have no idea what that means, I can only guess. Their main base in england is located at Saint Hill, and its a pretty big base, so I guess they're telling scntologists that when all the churches are as big as the main base in saint hill, they'll let them have OT9 and OT10. Also, there's two sides to the training process. Everyone starts on the same level, at the bottom of "The Bridge". they call it the bridge to total freedom hahahaha. So there's the "training" side and the "processing" side. The training side is where you study the theory of the Co$ and learn to give auditing to other people. The processing side is where you get auditing yourself. You can choose how you want to "go up the bridge to total freedom", either by training or processing. So the OT levels are all on the processing side. On the processing side, you get a bunch of lower level auditing... dunno what it is really, the ex sci said there's "the Grades", and "Method One" and some other stuff. You work your way up to "clear", which is the mid-point. Then after you're clear you can start doing the OT levels. OT3 and above are super secret. OT3 is where all the Xenu stuff is. Also, if you're in the Sea Org, you get EVERYTHING for free. But people who aren't in the Sea Org have to pay. If you leave the Sea Org when they don't want you to, they charge you retroactively for all the auditing and training you did when you were in, putting you in immediate debt.
Scientology 8-8008 "The book focuses heavily on Scientology Space Opera doctrine, and also dwells extensively on Hubbard's concept of life as "The Game"." Here's a graphic of the bridge (focusing on cost), taken from Time Magazine http://i25.tinypic.com/a296rt.jpg There's another HUEG one at: http://www.whatisscientology.org/html/Part02/Chp06/pg0181_1.html 4000x2500... I guess if you want to print it out and hang it on your wall to scare body thetans away.
> Hi, I'm an ex-scientologist, will try to fill in some details. > If you leave staff or the Sea Org, scientology makes you pay in full for all of the auditing and training you recieved, before you will be allowed to continue in scientology. > Also, if you leave staff or the Sea Org and follow their routing procedures, you will need to pay thousands of dollars to receive a security check, using a crude lie detector. > Some Sea Org staff take more than *2 years* trying to standardly route off staff (leave scientology). Google Chuck Beatty. You can also e-mail Chuck, he publicly posts his real e-mail address.
One problem (or so I've heard) with getting it all "for free" by signing a Billion Year contract with Sea Org, is that you have to do it all on your own time after working 16 hours a day for pennies. aonawog metioned having to pay for all the processing/training if you leave Sea Org. I think they call that the freeloader bill[/url:1v6f5ig8]
> Yup. > Yup again. If you leave staff, you are not allowed to do any more training or processing (auditing) or any other "services" until the entire freeloader's debt is paid off. And after the Freeloader's Debt is paid off, you then have to go through new security checks before being allowed back for more "services". Keep in mind, Hubbard set this whole thing up for making MONEY (sorry for shouting). "Church" of Scientology is a totalitarian organization all about power, control and mostly, *money*.
Re: Church Hierarchy? One thing that can be misunderstood is that spiritual advancement in the CoS does not equate to your job. Promotion is related to the usual secular things: are you able to do the job, have you brown nosed your boss enough, etc. OTs tend to progress faster because being OT implies dedication and loyalty. 'Saint Hill size' used to mean with as many staff as there were at Saint Hill in England when it was World Headquarters. It was a few years ago the Big Thing in Scientology, but as in any company the Big Thing changed, the definition changed, and it was quietly forgotten. It was replaced by 'Ideal Org' status, another buzz word that is on its way out. The twin track, auditing and training, is an important concept to grasp.
