One major aspect of Scientology are the different levels. To move up the levels, one must complete courses which increase in cost as one moves up. The first level is OT I. “OT” stands for Operating Thetan. According to the church’s website, “Operating is meant ‘able to act and handle things’ and by Thetan is meant ‘the spiritual being that is the basic self.’ An Operating Thetan, then, is one who can handle things without having to use a body of physical means”. One must first complete OT eligibility before achieving this level. OT I is the first step to gain full OT abilities. Some of these abilities are rumored to be immunity from physical ailments, psychic abilities, super intelligence and senses, telekinesis, mind-control, and becoming a god-like being. These are taken from Hubbard’s writings in his book Dianetics.
Once one reaches OT III, also called “The Wall of Fire”, it is rumored that they are revealed the secrets of Xenu and the creation of body thetans. This is the level in which they are trained to audit their own body thetans to further free themselves and progress them towards OT abilities. Hubbard has said that anyone “who was exposed to this level casually would “freewheel” through it, become a chronic insomniac, then get sick and die”.
OT IV removes all past effects of drugs from all of one’s lifetimes through auditing. OT V, also referred to as “The Second Wall of Fire”, identifies any remaining body thetans from OT III. OT VI can be very expensive and is the level in which one receives training to rid the remaining body thetans. OT VII removes the remaining body thetans. Tom Cruise is also rumored to be OT VII.
OT VIII is the highest level the church offers. This level is only available on the Freewinds, which is a cruise ship owned by the church. This ship “provide[s] a distraction-free environment for parishioners to study and experience the highest level of spiritual counseling available”, according to the church’s website. This level is a bit of a mystery but has been said to be a review of all past auditing and the progress and discoveries that one has made.
There are 15 levels of Scientology in the teachings, but the church only offers the first eight.
Further Reading:
An interesting blog post about OT abilities written by someone who left Scientology after 30 years can be read here.
An article about the cost of climbing the levels of Scientology can be read here.
Religion of Science... or Science Fiction? 