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Climbing The Bridge: A journey to "Operating Thetan'' - Tampabay.com
30 December 2009, 8:15 pm

By Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Thursday, December 31, 2009

 People practice Scientology by moving up the "Grade Chart," officially known as the "Classification Gradation and Awareness Chart of Levels and Certificates." It outlines a series of steps one must take in sequence to reach the highest levels of awareness. The progression also is referred to as "the Bridge," short for "the Bridge to Total Freedom."

Parishioners move up two sides of the Bridge. On one side they receive counseling called "auditing" from "auditors," who ask questions of a person while measuring his emotional reactions using an electronic device called an "e-meter." On the other side of the Bridge, Scientologists learn how to become auditors.

At the top of the bridge are the "Operating Thetan" or OT levels. In Scientology, an OT is a being who no longer is dependent on his body or the physical world around him and is fully aware of his immortality as he passes through an endless succession of lifetimes in other bodies. Reaching the highest level — OT VIII — usually requires a Scientologist to spend years and tens of thousands of dollars on courses, counseling, books, lectures and other materials.

more at http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/climbing-the-bridge-a-journey-to-operating-thetan/1062094

[News Thetan]

3 of Scientology's elite parishioners keep faith, but leave the church - Tampabay.com
30 December 2009, 8:36 pm

By Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Thursday, December 31, 2009

They advanced to the Church of Scientology's highest spiritual level, to "Operating Thetan VIII," a vaunted realm said to endow extraordinary powers of perception and force of will.

But Geir Isene of Norway and Americans Mary Jo Leavitt and Sherry Katz recently announced they were leaving the church, citing strong disagreements with its management practices.

Isene left first, a decision that emboldened Leavitt, who inspired Katz. Such departures are rare among the church's elite group of OT VIIIs, who are held up as role models in Scientology. The three each told the St. Petersburg Times that they had spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the church's spiritual pinnacle.

more at http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/article1062092.ece

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